Grave of the turtles
by CosmicIdiot
Summary: Japan is at war, and five high school girls are caught in the middle of it. With the hope of returning to their normal care free lives they set out across war torn Japan. But after many trials and hardships they start to doubt whether their dream of having tea and cakes once more can ever come true.
1. Refuge of the damned

**Chapter 1: Refuge of the Damned**

"Listen Yui I'm going to explain this once more" Ritsu said.

"Uh huh I'm listening" Yui replied eagerly.

"Right well basically China... You know where China is right?"

"Yeah that's the place with pandas"

"Sure, but their enemy at the moment, you see Japan ruled over China and a whole load of other places for ages okay?"

"How long?"

"I don't know since we defeated the Americans I guess but that's not important. What matters is we ruled over this place for ages we were happy with the extra land and energy and stuff and they were happy because we got to spread our great culture to them. You know we gave them stuff like Sushi and Manga. Are following me?" Ritsu asked.

"Um I think so but if everybody was happy why did they get angry at us?" Yui answered.

"Well after a while they got started to dislike us and began to attack our people. Riots grew into a full rebellion and then they managed to kick us out. I don't really know why. I think they just blamed us for their poverty and hunger or something." Ritsu pondered.

"Is that why their attacking us now?" Yui asked

"Yep it sure is do you understand it now?" Ritsu ventured.

"Um not really, my head hurts" Yui complained

"Maybe I could explain it" Mugi proposed "You see Yui when a man and a women love each other very much..."

"Just what are you trying to explain to her!?" Azusa piped in.

"Oh sorry I seem to have misinterpreted the situation" Mugi mused.

"All of you keep it down" Mio whispered "The video's about to start."

"Hey I was just trying to explain to Yui why we're here, this stuff's important" Ritsu countered.

"So is this video, it should explain a lot of it" Mio replied.

The five girls were sat among many of their classmates in a small dark underground room facing a large screen.

The video started.

"Japan; what a magnificent country we are" A booming voiced narrator told them.

On the screen images of cherry blossom and traditional shrines were shown to a soothing soundtrack.

"The Land of the Rising Sun, home to the greatest civilization on earth. Through the strength and hard work of the Japanese people we have asserted ourselves as a superpower on the world stage and a leading light in science, medicine and technology.

Yes, with the hard work of its people, Japan has ruled over a prosperous empire since the beginning of the twentieth century.

The conquest of East Asia allowed the spread our great culture and a lot more living space for those feeling cramped back home.

It also brought benefits to the natives" the camera cut to a shot of Chinese workers in a paddy field accompanied by Japanese soldiers. "Just look at all these happy people working hard for the empire under the watchful eye of our brave soldiers.

However" tense music started to play in the background "As you may be aware not all of them appreciated our help, they returned it with scorn. These angry peasants rose up against their rightful masters, forcing us out of what is right fully ours. Such is their idiocy and impertinence that they blame the great empire of Japan for their own poverty and stupidity! Even having the tenacity as to mount an invasion of our shores the rotters!

The dramatic music subsisted and was replaced by a more calming tune once more.

"But don't worry; at this time of crisis the Japanese government seeks to protect its weak and innocent.

That is why you are here.

Across the country our government has built great underground shelters to protect its most vulnerable citizens for the duration of this problem. These will serve as your home for the next few months until this temporary disruption is halted. They contain large amounts of food and have inbuilt water purification systems so you never go hungry. They sport all sorts of facilities so you can continue your everyday lives in peace, isn't that fantastic?

"These magnificent works of engineering are closed by large steel doors that cannot be forced open, even by those rotten Chinese. The three feet of steel surrounding the shelters mean that it can withstand bombs, bullets and even nuclear warheads. Protecting you and your friends completely! For your protection once the shelter doors are closed they will not be reopened until the signal is given from the government that it is safe. Soon when the invaders are repelled and your courageous parents have won, the doors will open and you will be let out into the open world. In the meanwhile shelter life for you will go on much as normal, schooling will be provided, and so will all the great entertainment you enjoy on the outside. Time in the shelter will be fun! Isn't that right Senden-tan?"

A cute Chibi girl appeared on the screen "Yes, I'm looking forward to living in the shelter with all my friends. Mummy and Daddy are helping out the war effort but I'm staying right here."

"Ha ha. Isn't that sweet, now when you get into the shelter…."

Yui Hirasawa shuffled in her seat "Ooh I can't get comfy." she complained.

"Yeah and this stuff's really boring as well, I know what a shelter does. Can't we just go in already?" Ritsu added

Mio gave them both a cold glare "Quiet you two, this is important! We could be staying in here for months!"

Ritsu and Yui exchanged a glance and shifted their focus back to the video. After showing them the proper process for sanitation and washing inside the shelter the video quickly came to an end. "So!" the narrator continued, "Until we drive these barbarian invaders out of our homeland, you will remain cosy and safe in your shelter, out of the danger area. From me and Senden-Tan enjoy your time here and stay safe!"

The film cut off and Miss Yamanaka reached up to switch the projector off. Standing next to her were three men in the blue uniform of shelter workers. Their expressions were almost as menacing as the rifles at their hips.

"Now," Sawako said "Does anybody have any questions before we enter the shelter properly?" Nobody raised their hands. "No? Good, I'm going to do one more quick head count before we go in," she said taking out a resister.

Ritsu lifted both arms in the air and stretched "I'm so glad that's over; I thought it was going to go on forever."

Mugi smiled at this. "Aren't you looking forward to living here? I think it could be quite fun."

"Yeah, it's going to be like one giant sleepover with everybody from school" Yui said enthusiastically.

"It's not just people from our school remember, there are a lot of other people already in there" Mio added. "I just hope it's not too crowded."

"Relax, we'll get to meet a bunch of new people, it will be an experience, I'm sure that when we're older and we've kicked some Chinese butts we'll look back on this as a highlight of our youth." Ritsu explained, rocking back on her chair.

"I'm not so sure," Azusa spoke up "I think we might miss the outside, the trees and the sky and our families…"

"Don't worry so much, it's going to be fine in there, they've got tons of facilities, and it'll be like a hotel" Ritsu promised with her usual Cheshire grin.

Sawako finished the headcount. "Everybody's here, good, we don't want to anybody shut out when the doors close, now if you'll come this way, Tanaka-San here—" she patted one of the shelter men's shoulders, "Will show us into the proper shelter."

The group of students rose, there were about 50 of them in total. It mostly consisted of seniors but there were several juniors, like Azusa, mixed in. This particular batch was the last one arriving from their school. Generally, each group would remain homogeneous in terms of year level but, occasionally, different batches were grouped together; Azusa and Ui, for example, waited to enter with their upperclassmen.

"Do you think we'll get to share a room in there?" Yui asked full of energy.

"Judging from the video it looks like it will only be two people per room, we can try to get rooms next to each other though," Mio proposed.

The people from their school slowly shuffled through the small door into the main shelter area creating congestion. The five of them waited till the entrance was a little less crowded, staying near the back of them.

"Man, this sucks!" Ritsu complained, "I bet cause we're last we're gonna be left with all the crappy rooms. The ones with dirty sheets that smell like cat piss."

"I hope not I can't handle dirt" Mio panicked.

"That doesn't matter as long as we're together, right?" Mugi smiled.

The students filed through the entrance, everybody seemed nervous, unsure what the shelter would bring.

"So did you all pack everything okay?" Mio asked; each of the girls had with them a small suitcase filled with everything they would need for months spent in the shelter, Ritsu and Azusa also carried rucksacks on their backs.

"I found it fine; turns out I don't need all too much after all, just a few changes of clothes, a toothbrush…" Ritsu answered.

"Please tell me you've at least brought a pair of clean underwear?" Mio said looking her friend with despair.

"Actually now that you mention it..." Ritsu looked rather sheepish, Mio sighed. **"**Ah, don't worry! I can just share with you!" The tawny haired girl claimed shamelessly, to Mio's horror and embarrassment.

"Don't you dare!" Mio cleanly swatted her on the back of her head, producing a rather comical lump on the brown mop of hair.

Mugi smiled at the familiarities between the two girls, patting the bruised Ritsu and turning toward Mio with a calm expression to defuse her growing insecurities. "Well we won't be short of tea while we're here, I've been sure to pack tea leaves, a tea pot and some saucers," she said "I've even brought some cakes for if we get hungry."

"Sounds great, I'll look forward to it," Mio agreed, comforted by the ojou-sama's neutrality. "I just wish I could have brought Eliza-bass along, we could have still practiced for the band, and it would have been just like at home."

"Oh well I'm fine!" Yui said cheerfully "I brought Gita along so I could practice I've got him right here." She reached for him beside her but found nothing, she looked around urgently. "Oh no I must have left him on the bus!" she wailed "I've got to go get him, I can't leave him behind."

Yui dropped her belongings and ran quickly back the way they had come. "Yui wait!" Mio cried "You can't just go running off like that!"

"No! I've got to get Gita, I can't get leave him behind." Yui said determinedly running down the corridor towards the entrance.

"Yui!" Mio shouted exasperatingly running after her. Yui wasn't hearing her; her mind was focused on retrieving her beloved instrument.

"Yui come on back here" Ritsu shouted, racing off with them. "

Wait for me!" Mugi called, following them.

"Um guys maybe we shouldn't run off…" Azusa said as the other girls raced off down the metal hallway leaving her alone with the unattended luggage. The other students had now dissipated through the entrance; even the blue uniformed men were gone.

"You could get separated…" Azusa finished to an audience of herself. Sighing, Azusa grimaced at her so-called responsible sempais. "I guess I should go tell Miss Yamanaka that they've gone and run off again." she admitted as she trudged off to the teacher.

Yui burst out of the shelter's gate and found herself in open air. The shelter was built into a side of a mountain; the door was made up of three different mechanisms, two sideways opening doors reminiscent of those found on elevators only much thicker and wider. The last part of the door was the one facing the outside and the largest of the three, an eight foot wide slab of steel that descended from the ceiling. Once it descended it was nigh impossible to open it again, anyone trying to get in would be confronted with a two feet thick wall of steel impervious to almost any sort of known bombs or explosives. It was so difficult to enter that it was almost more like a prison than somewhere made to protect people.

"Yui! Wait up would you?!" Ritsu shouted, Yui halted and examined the horizon. They were quite high up so she could see a lot, forests and countryside rolling on for miles. The area they were in was remote, it had taken hours by bus to reach here and by now the sun was now setting in the sky.

"You shouldn't have run off like that!" Mio chided as the three girls caught Yui.

"Sorry I just need to get Gita" she said rubbing the back of her head.

"It's okay," Mio said warmly "I know how you feel; it might get boring in there if you don't have your instrument to play. We could be spending a long time in there so you don't want to leave anything behind."

"Right, me and Gita are inseparable!" Yui smiled.

"Let's just make this quick okay" Ritsu said "Azusa's waiting for us back there."

"Yep I'll just go up and ask the Mr. Bus driver if I can get him, it will be easy!" Yui said hurrying off.

"Yui you're going in the wrong direction, the car park is down the mountain" Mio reminded her.

"Oh right sorry," Yui apologized doing a 180 degree turn.

The path down to the car park was a short and winding one specifically built for access to the shelter. Yui managed to trip more than once on the way down but eventually they reached the car park. It was empty.

"Hey where's the bus?!" Ritsu exclaimed as they walked onto the tarmac.

"It was just here wasn't it?" Mugi pointed to an empty space.

"No I think it was round that corner," Mio suggested. It wasn't, they were the only ones there. A cold breeze whispered through the empty car park, making Mio shiver.

"The bus can't be gone!" Ritsu exclaimed.

"It's a bus, they move in case you hadn't noticed," Mio explained wearily, she turned to her brown-haired friend who looked hysterical "I'm sorry Yui it looks like it's already left."

"Gita," Yui whimpered.

"It's alright," Mugi promised, "I'm sure you'll be able to find him again when this is all over."

"I guess..." she said. They started to turn back

"Well that was a waste of time!" Ritsu complained.

"Ritsu!" Mio scolded "we were just trying to get Gita back for, I'm sure you'd want us to go back if it was your drum kit?"

Ritsu looked ashamed "I'm sorry Yui."

"It's okay I miss Gita though"

"It's only been a few minutes" Mio pointed out.

"Ritsu has a point though" Mugi offered "we had better be getting back they'll be worried about us."

Azusa pushed through the crowd; this was the main dining room of the shelter. A large square room with a white floor, the engineers hadn't put any effort into disguising the fact that the ceiling and walls were made out of steel, they lay unpainted and bland. Azusa supposed that the fact that the shelters had to be constructed so fast meant there wasn't much time to be dealing with aesthetics.

Tables lay all around the place with chairs at them, there didn't seem to be much order to their positioning as they were just scattered around the place. Already there seemed to be people flooding the place as well as her group she spotted many different uniforms, kids of all ages that got more disproportionately female as the age increased. She also spotted families with young children and several old women wading through the crowd. Miss Yamanaka was at the front next to a man in a blue shirt that was showing them round; she looked rather overwhelmed by the experience.

"Sawako! Sawako-sensei" Azusa cried as she got nearer the front. Miss Yamanaka turned around.

"Oh Azusa-Chan, do you have a question?"

"Um Sawako, Yui and the others…"

A blaring siren interrupted what she was saying. Wheeee-oooooo

"What's that noise!?" Azusa asked. Sawako looked as confused as she was; all around there were murmurs of discontent. Her teacher turned anxiously to the man next to her. "

Tanaka, what does that mean?" she cried.

"It's an air raid warning, it means we need to close up early," he answered darkly. Azusa's eyes filled with horror.

"No, you can't!" she said pulling at his sleeves.

"Sorry girl, its procedure, this thing's got to close, we've got enemy aircraft approach," he answered tiredly.

"No, you don't understand my friends are still out there!" Azusa almost screamed at him, "Please you have to!"

He shrugged. "Well, not much I can do about it."

Sawako turned to the small girl. "Yui and the others are still out there?"

"Yeah, they're gonna be locked out if we don't do something!" Azusa worried; she was panicking now.

Sawako turned angrily to Tanaka. "You heard her, do something you imbecile!"

He put his hands in front of him "Tell you what, the mechanism takes a while to get started, you might make it if you go fast." Azusa and Sawako looked at one another and ran.

Ritsu grunted; the walk back uphill to the shelter had been a struggle, not least because Yui was dragging behind them, still upset about Gita. They were now only 15 meters away; they could see the doors of the shelter.

"Wow the view up here really is something," Ritsu remarked looking out at the setting sun.

"Yeah it sure is" Mio took a minute to appreciate before she heard a blaring noise it Wait, what's that noise?" Mio asked, as they heard a siren. She took a few steps towards the door.

"Hey!" a voice called loudly.

"Is that Azusa?" Ritsu asked. They looked at each other; something was wrong, very wrong.

Azusa and Sawako sped down the long entrance hallway as fast as their legs could carry them "Yui, Ritsu, Mugi, Mio!" she called "the doors closing, get in here!"

She could see them but they couldn't seem to hear her. "Come on please get in here!" she panted. They stared at her idly. As the mechanism began to creek she saw a look of horribly realization on their faces. Ritsu began to sprint forward in a desperate frenzy but it was too late. The first two doors slammed together with a breathtaking bang and Ritsu could only watch in horror as the large shelter door was released and crashed down to the ground with a mighty thud, leaving them shut out behind a wall of steel.

There was a moment of awful understanding as the group took in the events.

"We're shut out, that can't be" Mio frantically looked to the others.

"No, they have to let us in!" Ritsu pounded her fists on the door "Open up in there!"

She deflated at the silence that met her.

"This is your fault!" she rounded on Yui "If you hadn't run outside to get your stupid guitar we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I'm sorry..." Yui said weakly "I didn't mean to."

"Leave her alone Ritsu, she didn't know the door was going to shut" Mio countered.

"I guess you're right, none of us could have known this was going to happen." Ritsu sighed and sat down against the eight foot door piece of steel emblazoned with the imperial flag.

"So are we shut outside for good then?" Mugi worried.

"Looks that way" Mio said grimly

"But Azu-nyan and Ui are in there!" Yui fretted.

"It's not them we should be worrying about; they're nice and cosy in the shelter at the moment. Probably enjoying some food or a cup of tea " Ritsu sulked.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Mio exploded "We're locked out of our shelter without any transport or adults with us, I don't know what we can do?"

"Maybe could we try to get into another shelter?" Mugi suggested.

"Not likely, from what I heard on the news all the rest are full already" Ritsu shot down.

"Well then where are we supposed to go?" Mio asked desperately. The question was left hanging as they all reflected on the situation.

"Home?" a small voice answered.

The others turned to look at Yui

"Eh?" they said.

"Maybe we could just go home, back where we were" Yui explained.

Ritsu shrugged, "Well I don't have any better ideas."

Mio was unconvinced. "Do you know how far that is? It would take us ages to get back there."

"I don't see what other choice we have" Ritsu countered. "It's either that or we just stay at this door waiting forever for it to open."

"I quite like the idea; we can stay go home to club room and drink tea," Mugi suggested.

"Well then it's decided!" Ritsu exclaimed "I didn't want to stay in some stupid shelter anyway; they'll be stuck in there bored out of their minds while we'll be having fun at home, we shouldn't be feeling sorry for ourselves we should be feeling sorry for them."

"Well there is the small matter of getting there first," Mio reminded her.

"Eh that shouldn't be a problem, we can probably hitchhike it most of the way or Mugi can use her connections to arrange something, it's all fine," Ritsu said, brightening up.

"Yeah it'll be just like before won't it?" Yui smiled.

"Sure it will. This whole things going to be over pretty soon anyway. My Dad's gonna kick some Chinese butt back to Beijing and then all the others will come out of the shelter and be jealous of us because we didn't spend our youth in a cramp steel box!" Ritsu said confidently putting her arms behind her head.

"When you put it like that this whole thing doesn't seem too bad," Mio admitted.

"I know right? We'll be having tea and cakes again soon, mark my words." Ritsu promised with a grin.

* * *

**A/N: So this is the first chapter, I hoped you enjoyed it.****If you have any questions about the story don't hesitate to Pm me. Sorry about putting in too much dodgy alternative history in this first chapter, I thought the war needed some background. Also sorry for punctuation and grammar mistakes.**

**Any reviews are always appreciated; it's great to get feedback so I can improve. I've got a lot planned for this fic so keep reading, if you want that is you don't have to.**

**Also I'd like to say thank you to user WolfePony for beta reading for me.**

**Oh yeah I also don't own K-on! Or any of its characters in case that wasn't obvious.**

**It shouldn't be too long before the next chapter out**


	2. A Kohai's escape

**Chapter 2: A Kohai's escape**

The room was smaller, smaller than Azusa's bedroom despite the fact that it was for two people. Two moderately sized beds lay parallel to each other facing away from the door and the reclusive little junior lay in one; staring at the white ceiling. Her new room was clean, tidy, plain and almost clinical in quality; no free sense of individuality or originality, just a holding cell. She didn't like it. Her main complaint was the windows, or lack thereof, it made the already stuffy room feel claustrophobic and cramped. Glancing at the almost obsessive sterility of the room, Azusa was reminded of a cheap hotel room. Ui sat opposite to her, quietly unpacking her clothes.

"This isn't so bad is it?" she smiled.

Azusa didn't reply; Ui frowned

"Are you okay, Azusa, about what happened earlier I mean?"

"Do you think they're going to be all right?" she asked still staring at the ceiling.

Ui faltered. "Yes I'm sure they'll be alright, I don't know about my sister but Mio-Senpai is sensible I'm sure she'll figure something out."

Neither of them seemed convinced by the explanation.

"Do you want to do something? I hear there's a cinema on the lower level." Ui suggested.

Azusa shook her head "No thanks, I'm fine here." Her hands were beneath her head and her hair billowed out across her pillow.

"Okay but you should at least unpack, you are going to be here a while after all," the brunette recommended.

"Yeah I know I am, I know" she sighed.

"Come on unpacking will help take your mind off them," Ui smiled.

Azusa sat up and began to unpack; her clothes had to be folded at the bottom of a large wardrobe for storage since there were no hangers. Her choice of attire for the trip had been summer based, it was autumn but she'd figured that didn't matter because she would be permanently indoors.

"Huh? Fluffy socks, why did I take these?" Azusa held up a pair.

Ui giggled. "That's nothing; wait till you see my bunny slippers I packed."

"Those sound cute," Azusa smiled.

"They are! Yui got them for my last birthday," Ui said.

There was an uncomfortable silence as they remembered what had happened to her sister.

"It's kind of hot in here; do you think you could turn the heating down?" Azusa asked.

"Yeah, it is a bit," Ui agreed adjusting the thermostat.

Azusa sorted her socks and underwear orderly to her dresser draw.

"Huh there's a safe over here," she said, it was open.

"I've got one of those on my side as well," her friend replied. Out of curiosity she opened it, inside was a brown envelope with the words in the event of defeat scrawled on it.

"Hey Ui do you know what this is about?" she asked holding it up in the air.

"No, I suppose it may be some kind of letter." Ui said. Azusa ripped off the top and emptied the contents into her hand; a single black pill fell out.

"I don't think you were supposed to open that just yet…" Ui worried.

Azusa identified the pill in her hand "Cyanide…" she said weakly.

The other girl looked grim as she realized the implication before trying to smile "I know how about I show you my bunny slippers, I'll just get them out." She reached in her bag.

"Ui, I'm going to go after them…" Azusa said quietly.

Ui paused, staring into her bag with a slight frown.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she responded weakly, feigning an innocent smile.

"I said I'm going after them, Yui and the others. I can't let them stay out there on their own," Azusa squeaked with more confidence.

Although she understood Azusa's sentiment, Ui was less than understanding about letting Azusa go so easily. After all, even if the others were missing at the very least they had each other, if Azusa left there wasn't any guarantee that she would join up with them.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you" Ui replied.

"I said I'm going after them Yui and the others, I can't let them stay out there on their own" she squeaked with more confidence.

"Azusa I understand, I'm worried about them too, but there's no way to get in or out of the shelter once it's closed you know that," Ui protested.

Azusa stood up. "No, there has to be a way, I'm going to find it and I'm going to bring them back. It's what they would have done for me."

"Azusa!" Ui called as she reached the door; the small girl turned around "good luck."

* * *

"We should probably try find somewhere to settle down for the night," Mugi proposed.

The four of them walked down a small deserted wood lined road.

"Yeah, I'm sick of walking and my feet are tired!" Yui complained.

"We've only been going for about twenty minutes," Mio chided.

"Twenty minutes are a long time when you're walking." Yui dragged her feet along the ground.

"We're going to have to walk a lot further than this tomorrow," Mugi reminded her, Yui groaned.

"I think we should make camp too," Ritsu agreed, stopping in her tracks. "How about here?" She ventured a few steps into the woods and pointed to a clearing.

"We can't just sleep out in the woods!" Mio objected.

"I don't see any other option; I'd rather not walk around for ages in dark to try to find somewhere better. This place is as good as any," Ritsu said throwing her rucksack to the ground.

Yui quickly joined Ritsu in the clearing. "Yeah this place is fine Mio-chan I just want to go to sleep." She flopped down on the forest floor.

"Yui, don't lie down in the middle of the woods!" Mio shouted. Yui and Ritsu weren't listening to her; they were beginning to clear a space to sleep.

Mugi turned to Mio who looked horrified about the prospect of sleeping rough. "They are right you know we need to go to sleep and then work out what we're doing in the morning."

"I suppose," Mio reluctantly agreed following Mugi into the groups new campsite "But, but where are we supposed to go to the toilet?" she asked nervously.

"Just go in the woods, it's what the bears do," Ritsu flippantly answered, a small grin appearing on her face.

Mio flushed red. "No way am I doing that!" she snapped quickly, crossing her arms as a child might when adamant about her decision.

"Fine if you don't want to go in the woods I'm sure there's a five-star luxury portaloo just over there especially for you" Ritsu joked; she was slumped with her back against a tree and her hands behind her head.

"Um, I actually need to go for a pee, all this talk has made me need to go," Yui sheepishly admitted.

"Alright just don't go too far I don't want you getting lost," Ritsu replied, **s**ometimes it was a bit worrying about how childish Yui could behave and although Mio and Mugi were considerably mature for their age, Ritsu, from time to time, did behave like the self-appointed captain as she was.

"Are you telling her to go near the camp? I don't want anybody peeing near where I'm sleeping!" Mio protested.

With that Yui got up and wandered into the bushes. The trees formed a natural ring around the small clearing making it seem enclosed. With Yui gone Mio awkwardly brushed the floor before sitting down, uncomfortable with the situation.

Ritsu breathed a sigh of contentment. "You know this is actually quite nice, we'll be sleeping under the stars. Just like what cave men used to do with none of these modern distractions."

"Actually I think they used to sleep in caves," Mugi pointed out. She was focusing on trying to rub two sticks together; her large eyebrows were narrowed in concentration.

"It's not as easy as on those survival shows is it?" Ritsu smiled.

Vooooooooooooooom

The noise of planes forced them to look up. A squadron of bombers soared above them barely visible in the poor light.

"Are those ours?" Mugi asked the others.

"I don't know it was too dark to tell…" Mio worried, turning to Ritsu.

Ritsu shrugged "Don't look at me I'm not a plane expert."

A twig snapping behind them made Mio shriek. "Ah what was that?!" she glanced fearfully around.

"Ooh shiny," Yui's voice came from beyond the trees.

"Oh it was just Yui…" Mio breathed a sigh of relief.

"What is it Yui? You found something?" Ritsu called.

"Yeah," Yui dawdled back to camp with an orange lighter in her hand.

"Look!" she said as she flicked it on and a little flame came out the end "Whoa!"

"Good find Yui we can use it to start a fire!" Mio congratulated.

"Yeah good job, Bear Grylls got nothing on you Yui," Ritsu teased.

"Yeah I'm a survival master!" The goofy girl exclaimed, proudly flicking the lighter on and off "One time, my dad let me use some of his camouflage paint when me and Ui were playing hide and seek. We hid in the bushes for a really long time," Yui grinned, recalling the fond memory, "Dad couldn't find us and almost gave up, so we came out of our hiding spot. This was just before he and Mum had to go on a business trip in China."

"Yui, I'm not sure you should be playing with that, it's dangerous," Mio said confiscating it from her "We don't want to use up all its fuel anyway."

"Aww, it was fun…" the simple-minded girl complained.

"Hey, you don't want your hair catching fire do you?" Ritsu said.

Yui shook her head vigorously at the thought**.** "No! That would be awful I might catch fire completely and turn into flame grilled Yui!" She fretted seemingly very worried about the possibility.

Ritsu grinned rakishly, taking this opportunity to tease the poor girl**.**"At least we'd have something to eat then."

Yui squealed at this and cowered behind Mio "Ah! Help me Mio-chan; Ricchan's going to eat me!"

Mio squealed. "Ritsu! It's only been one day there's no need to resort to cannibalism just yet!"

"Eat Mugi instead she'd be tasty her eyebrows are radishes!" Yui directed.

"We have fire!" Mugi announced victoriously, unfazed that Yui had volunteered her as supper. She had built a small nest of sticks in the middle of the campsite. They had caught ablaze with a healthy crackle.

"Yes!" Ritsu said, turning to Mio. "See this is working out okay isn't it? We've got fire so we can just relax here for a bit."

"Apart from the fact that we don't have any food, which is just a bit of a problem," Mio countered.

"Well that's where you're wrong," Ritsu said opening her backpack and pulling out several packets of potato chips and some coca colas. "I knew that the shelter food would probably taste like mashed up cardboard so I brought some treats of my own."

"Yay we don't have to eat Mugi after all!" Yui exclaimed, hugging Mugi who returned it with a smile of her own; glad that she wasn't considered a tasty prospect anymore.

Ritsu grinned and even Mio smiled. "Well I guess maybe you're not completely useless." she admitted.

Yui enthusiastically crawled over. "Ooh monster munch yummy!" she cried excitedly grabbing a packet and scurrying back to her area.

Mugi cautiously picked a packet of Pringles. "I must say these are quite lovely" she smiled.

"I know it's all nice. Now who wants to see what happens when I try to roast a Twinkie?" Ritsu asked.

"I do!" Mugi and Yui cried.

"Wait, they are not marshmallows!" Mio protested.

Later when the camp fire was dying, the girls prepared to go to sleep. Yui was already dozing on the forest floor but it was doubtful that the others would find it that easy. The night was cold and dark, and a cruel wind howled through the trees.

Mugi helped a less than enthusiastic Mio clear a space for sleeping. "If you put your head there the moss will make a nice pillow," she advised.

"Thanks for the thought." Nodded Mio lying down rigidly in the sleeping space. Meanwhile Ritsu sat against a tree noisily rifling through her bag.

"Do you have to be so loud, some of us are trying to get to sleep?" Mio whispered.

"Sorry I'll be done in a minute."

"Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah my blanket," Ritsu admitted.

"You brought a blanket?" Mio sounded surprised.

"I had it since I was a kid, I didn't want to leave it at home." Ritsu pulled it out; she couldn't see it in the dark but could feel its comforting warmth. She pulled it over herself and lay down to bed with her hands behind her head.

It was a starry night; it was possible to see a lot more out here than they ever could have in the city, thousands of beautiful lights in the sky.

"Ritsu…" Mio called.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think we'll be alright after getting shut out of the shelter and everything? It's a bit scary…" she asked timidly.

Ritsu considered for a moment. She was unsurprised by Mio's concern, although her friend always tried to maintain a calm persona, Ritsu knew for a fact that she was absolutely rattled on the inside.

"Sure we will. We're going to be just fine, I'm sure of it. Anyway let's not worry about this tonight we can deal with it tomorrow."

"Yeah I suppose you're right…" Mio agreed, shifting slightly to get comfortable.

"Well, goodnight Mio, night Yui, night Mugi," Ritsu said as she started to close her eyes. Mio shivered nearby and Ritsu realized with a start that she had nothing but her clothes to keep warm. Ritsu opened one eye, looking toward Mio.

"Cold?" asked Ritsu with certain playfulness in her voice that Mio quickly learned to hate over the years of their friendship.

The bassist being a rather proud girl didn't answer immediately, but they were friends long enough for Ritsu to recognize the silence as a "Yes".

In response, Ritsu adjusted her blanket and draped it beside her. "I've got room for one more over here, if you don't mind my snoring."

Silently, Mio gratefully crawled over and lay down next to Ritsu, pulling part of the blanket over her.

"Hey, don't take all of it, you should be happy you're getting any," Ritsu teased.

"_You_ should be happy I agreed to camp here," Mio whispered back, hiding her smile under the now-deemed security blanket.

"You're right, sleeping with Mio Akiyama; your fan club would be soo jealous." Mio however remained unresponsive, so, Ritsu didn't press the issue.

"Room for one more?" a person shuffled in to Ritsu's right.

"Mugi?"

"Yep," Mugi whispered, unable to contain the glee in her voice.

"Sure come on in." Ritsu shifted slightly to accommodate the ojou-sama.

"Don't forget about me," a sleepy groan was heard as a figure crawled over and embraced them all in a big hug

The gesture made Mio grin. "I'm glad you're all of you are here." She looked over at them for a response but they were all already asleep.

* * *

Azusa found the middle-aged engineer in the lower levels of the shelter sipping a cup of tea alone in the staff quarters.

The shelter worker from earlier, Tanaka almost spat it out when he saw Azusa come in "How did you get in here?" he demanded.

"The door was open," she responded dumbly.

"Ugh, really? Who's running this damn place…? Whatever, what do you want?" he frowned at her.

"There's got to be another way out if here, please you're one of the people who works here if there's a way out you must know," she pleaded.

He sighed. "Listen kid, I know you're upset about your friends and everything but you should just give up already, nobody gets in or out of this place until the war is over."

Azusa grimaced and crossed her arms**.** "No, I can't give up; they would never give up on me. When we were in the light music club they were always looking out or me, they even made plans for when they graduate and I'm left behind. I can't abandon them when they need me most."

"Well there might be one way out of this place…" the man admitted.

"Really?" her eyes lit up.

"Yeah but it might be tough, follow me." He led her out of the room and through a corridor until they came to a small vent. "These air vents, the only contact the shelter has with the surface, this thing still needs a steady supply of Oxygen if people are living in it." He rapped on the vent close to the ceiling. "Now these things are pretty small, a normal person couldn't hope to fit in there but you, such a small girl might just stand a chance." He handed her a screwdriver "You'll need this too open it up, good luck."

"Thank you engineer-San" Azusa smiled.

"Whatever just scram before somebody sees us, I don't want my ass busted for helping you escape," he moaned.

Azusa quickly returned to her room and packed everything she might need into a backpack. Water bottles, food, blankets, maps and a first aid kid, she hoped they would not be needed.

Ui journeyed with her to the duct entrance to see her off, when questioned by a shelter worker they replied that they were simply going for a walk.

Eventually they arrived, Azusa stood on her tip toes and tried to unscrew the guard to the vents, after a few tries it came loose.

"Yes I did it!" Azusa celebrated.

"You're really doing this aren't you?" Ui asked.

"Yeah I have to," she replied.

She attempted to climb up but before she could Ui thrust a brown envelope into her hands.

"Take it," she pleaded.

"No! I'm not going to need anything like this" Azusa tried to push it back.

Ui shook her head and pushed the envelope at her again, "Please, take it," she repeated. Although she didn't enjoy the idea of the possibility that she'll need to use it, Ui believed there needs to be a back-up in case of the worst happening.

"No!"

"If things go wrong out there and you fall into enemy hands, you'll be glad to have it" Ui advised gravely.

Azusa considered for a moment, looking at the envelope solemnly. As much as Azusa hated to admit it, Ui did have a point; no matter how much the pig tailed tried to block it out, they were in the middle of a _war_. She could tell by looking at Ui that she was serious and would not give up on this.

"Okay I guess I could take it." With this Azusa reluctantly put it in her pocket

"Hopefully you won't have to use it" Ui said.

"Hopefully I won't have to use a lot of this stuff, they can't have gone far already," Azusa said "Give me a boost please."

Ui lifted her up with a heave into the vent.

She squeezed in and turned round to say goodbye

"See you Ui if things go well I should be back in few days, if they don't well I don't want you following me okay?"

Ui nodded; Azusa began to move away.

"Azusa!" she called out.

"Yeah,"

"You'll get her back won't you?"

Azusa paused. "I'll try Ui I'll try." With that she turned her back on the shelter and ascended the vent.

* * *

**A/N Okay there's a lot less confusing AU stuff in this chapter but a lot more menial conversation about toilets and cannibalism, so I'm not sure on balance whether it's better or worse. Sorry about the awful grammar, I'm really not good at it but I am trying to improve. I almost completely reliant on green lines under my words at the moment. Same goes for spelling but that's not as much of an issue since it's easier to fix.**

**I'll try to get better soon.**

**Also please write a review, Criticism is always appreciated but I appreciate praise a whole lot more.**

**Oh and keep reading, it gets better I promise, next chapter is going to have a bear in it.**


	3. Morning in the woods

**Chapter 3: Morning in the woods**

Mio was the first to wake. It was a chilly and foggy morning but underneath Ritsu's blanket she felt warm. On the grass next to her head dew had gathered. It glistened in the cool morning air.

As she gained conciseness Mio felt a comforting weight on her chest. She looked over to see Ritsu's head across. A bit of drool was escaping her mouth.

"Ritsu get off of me" She whispered. When she only heard an unintelligible mumble as a response Mio gently pushed Ritsu's head off of her to make it loll at an awkward angle. Mio looked around at the others. They were still asleep under the blanket. Yui had Mugi enveloped in her arms and had her faced pressed so far into Mugi's hair it almost looked like she was biting her friends head.

Mio smiled at the sight of her friends sleeping so peacefully. Before she lifted the blanket to slide out. She knew there wasn't much chance of her going back to sleep. It had been hard enough last night when she had been tired so she figured she might as well get up. She stretched a little as she clambered to her feet pausing momentarily to brush some of the dirt and bits of forest that had clung to uniform while she slept. Her face turned to horror when she saw a black slug crawling across her arm. "Argh!" she squealed as she frantically brushed it off. She shot a glance at the others; Yui stirred in her sleep but luckily none of them woken at her outcry.

"I suppose I had better get breakfast" she said to her self. A sharp pain in her bladder gave her other ideas. "Oh, well I had to face it sometime" she grimaced "best to do it when there's asleep." Mio disappeared out into the woods leaving the others sleeping soundly.

* * *

"Morning everyone!" Yui said tiredly stretching "I had a great sleep!" she removed her arms from Mugi and rubbed her eyes. The other two were still not quite awake.

"Huh two? Where's Mio?" Yui worried

She lent over at prodded Ritsu "Ricchan, Mio's missing wake up."

"Five more minutes, I don't want to get up for school" Ritsu groaned with her eyes closed.

"Ricchan" Yui shook her again but there was no response.

"Mio could be in danger!" she decided earnestly "I need to go find her!"

With the self assigned mission of finding her friend Yui sprung up off the ground and ventured into the woods.

"Mio-chan?" she called out "Mio-chan?"

* * *

"Ah that wasn't such a bad sleep" Ritsu yawned as she and Mugi opened their eyes "I can't believe you didn't want to camp here Mio, it was great."

"Mio doesn't seem to be here and neither's Yui" Mugi noticed.

"Eh don't worry about it, they're probably just out trying to find some food" Ritsu dismissed throwing off her blanket.

"I hope that's the case, do we have any breakfast?"

"I don't know" Ritsu pulled out her backpack from its previous position as her pillow "I'll have a look, I can't even remember what's in here" she emptied the contents of the backpack onto the forest floor forming a pile of random objects.

"I wish I had brought a backpack with me" her blond friends said "it would be very useful now."

"You wish you'd brought a back pack? I wish we hadn't been stuck out of the shelter. I wish we weren't it this whole mess" Ritsu replied grumpily.

"Excuse me But you said yesterday that being stuck out here was a good thing" Mugi started

"I know what I said!" Ritsu interrupted shocking Mugi "It doesn't mean I believe it."

"I see" Mugi nodded.

Ritsu rifled through the pile on the floor. "Anyway enough about that lets see if I've got anything useful here."

She examined the first object of the pile.

"A flashlight, could have come in handy last night, oh wait no batteries" she dismissed it. "A book? Could be useful if any of us need a long trip to the woods, can't think of anything else to use it for. Empty drinks bottles from last night, we could refill these with maybe so let's keep them, a pack of cards, could be fun I guess,uh Tampax, um just ignore that. My camera, not much use to us unless we want to take photographs. Sunscreen? I wasn't thinking some of this through" she had tossed most of the items to the side aside from her iPod and a cell phone.

"You have your phone? We should try to call somebody and ask them to help" Mugi advised.

"Who we going to call? I think the emergency services are too busy at the moment to help people like us "Ritsu countered.

"Maybe but my parents can help us. They're very influential people." Mugi said taking the phone.

Her face fell as she looked at it "there's no signal" she realized. Mugi waved the phone around in the air looking mildly ridiculous in an attempt to get some.

I didn't think there would be any; it's pretty remote out here" Ritsu sighed stuffing the items back into her bag.

She glanced over to see Mio coming back from the woods.

"Good morning" she greeted "I see you two are awake now."

"Where have you been Mio?" Ritsu asked "Did you see a spider or something and run off in terror?"

"No" Mio said indignantly "I was going to the "toilet" but on the way back I came across these berries."

She opened her palms to show a pile of freshly picked blackberries.

"Excellent, we have breakfast" Ritsu beamed, cheering up from her grumpiness "You did wash your hands before picking those right?"

Mio scanned the camp site "where's Yui gone?" she asked.

"I dunno, we thought she was with you" Ritsu shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know? You lost her!? We need to get her back" Mio panicked.

"Okay, if you insist, She's probably just out picking some more berries for us you know" Ritsu said lazily getting to her feet.

"Ritsu, she could be lost, I'm not sure Yui can handle it on her own" Mio insisted.

I guess you and me can go look for her. Mugi; try to cook up these berries into something nice" Ritsu commanded as Mio poured them into Mugi hands.

"I'll try to do my best but these are just berries, I'm not sure what I can do with them" Mugi said uncertainly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, you're a good cook Mugi" Ritsu complimented "Remember to mind the camp while me and Mio get Yui back."

The two headed off into the woods together, their feet crunched on the mix of sticks and forest matter of the floor. Hundreds of beech trees towered above them to provide the canopy to the forest. It wasn't easy walking, the forest floor was anything but flat, constantly providing a new slope or ditch for the two to struggle over and a thin fog hampered their vision.

"Yui, Yui, you out there?" Ritsu called.

"Yui come back" Mio joined in "Please." The lonely woods provided no answer for her.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" she asked Ritsu.

"How am I supposed to know" Ritsu shrugged "I don't have a clue where we're going."

"Yes but you're the one who is supposed to have an idea of what's going on. It was your idea to camp here" Mio pointed out haughtily.

"Hey, I don't see why this is my fault just because it was my idea to camp out" Ritsu snapped back irritated.

"Because you're the one who's supposed to be leading us, you're the club president!" Mio shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Ritsu said stunned "I'm not leading anyone Mio; I'm in the same situation as you!"

Mio didn't answer. She had stopped and were gazing intently at what was ahead of her. She trembled when she spoke "Ritsu, over there" she pointed.

It was Yui. Standing still with her back to them gazing intently at what was opposite her.

A large Asiatic black bear; over a meter and a half long standing mere feet away from Yui. It raised its dark snout and sniffed in her direction.

"Hi there, Bear-kun are you lost too?" she greeted cheerfully.

She reached out her hand towards it to stroke it.

"You're not going to hurt me are you?"

The bear snarled.

"Get a way from her!"

Ritsu threw herself between Yui and the bear. Waving her arms in an attempt to make her self look big.

"Yeah back off" Mio shouted meekly from behind Ritsu.

The bear took a pace towards them. Ritsu held her breath and looked the bear directly in the eye. Fighting every instinct she had not to back off. Mio clutched her arm tightly.

After a few seconds staring at them it turned it's back on them and wandered off.

Mio and Ritsu breathed a sigh of relief as they realized they were safe.

"Yeah, and stay away!" Ritsu shouted after it shaking her fist.

Mio turned to original target of the bear "Yui are you okay, did it hurt you?"

"Oh I'm fine Mio-chan; I was just trying to make friends with Bear-kun."

"I don't think that bear wanted to make friends with you Yui. It wanted to eat you. He was dangerous!" Ritsu protested.

"Nah he was fine, he was nice and big and cuddly" Yui said happily, suddenly she stopped and put her finger on her chin "Why was out here anyway?"

"We don't know you just wandered off without warning" her raven haired friend exasperated.

Oh yeah I was looking for you Mio, Yay I found you" Yui hugged Mio joyfully.

Mio pushed her away "Yui you can't wander off like that again okay? It's dangerous do you understand?"

"It's not really that dangerous; it's not like any monsters out there so I don't need to be afraid of them"

"Yui there are plenty of things out there worse than monsters, real things" Mio insisted darkly.

"Uh huh" Yui nodded.

"Although monsters can be quite scary" Mio admitted "Like ghosts and zombies and barnacles" Mio was beginning scare her self now. She was shaking and looking over her shoulder nervously.

"Look what Mio's trying to say is that you can't keep having this aloof attitude to danger. Start watching out for yourself a bit."

"Thanks Ritsu" Mio said recovering "Yui please promise me you won't get yourself into dangerous situations like that again." She looked very serious.

"Sure a promise Mio-chan, I'll try not to get into trouble again" She smiled.

"Good" Mio breathed a sigh of relief "Now We should get back to camp now I think Mugi's making us some lovely berry things for breakfast." "Yay" Yui said skipping ahead "I can't wait to eat!"

Mio turned to Ritsu "She's always too positive about everything isn't she?"

"Yeah; sometimes I wonder if she really even understands what's going on around her" Ritsu agreed.

Yui hummed Fuwa Fuwa time to herself, happy in her own little world.

"You know we may have look out for her more in the future" Mio said.

"Yeah I know. She can't keep being this naïve for ever can she?" Ritsu sighed thinking about how despite all her good aspects Yui was still a child at heart.

"You're right she can't" Mio agreed " but she's at the moment she's happy there's no need to ruin it for her."

"Yeah maybe; like you said there are a lot of things worse than monsters out there" Ritsu said casually.

"I know" Mio nodded.

"Like me!" Ritsu shouted pounced playfully onto Mio.

"EEK!" Mio squealed as Ritsu put her arms around Mio's neck "Don't scare me like that Ritsu." Her friends loosed her grip and ginned at her, Mio was less than amused.

"You know Ritsu for all your immaturity I think you proved me right back there" she reflected.

"Huh, about what?" Ritsu questioned.

"About being a leader."

"What are you talking about?"

"You stood in and protected a member of your group when they were in trouble, that' sounds like something a leader does to me."

"Nah I was just helping out a friend in trouble"

"Since yesterday all of us have been looked to you for leadership on what to do. Just like we did in the club when you were president. You're a natural leader Ritsu whether you like it or not" Mio lectured her.

"Whatever, if I have to be the leader then It's my leaders order that we get back to camp and have some berries" she said giving a playful grin to Mio "I'll race you there."

"Ritsu wait!" Mio staggered behind as her smiling friend bolted off.

* * *

When they arrived back to campMio was out of breath "Ritsu don't run like that" she spluttered.

"Don't be upset because you lost Mio" Ritsu bragged.

Mugi smiled at them "welcome back, I found some more berries in the woods and a stream for some water."

Next to Mugi there were several bottles of a black and red liquid of various consistencies.

"Hi Mugi-chan do you have things to eat?" Yui eyed the bottles eagerly.

"Why yes" Mugi replied holding up one of the bottles "Here I've made some berry juice by crushing them up into a liquid."

Yui took one of them "Yummy, it tastes like Ribena."

"Yes and here with some hot water I've made some berry tea" Mugi said cheerfully.

"This just tastes like warm berry juice" Ritsu said taking a swig of it.

"I don't think that's a bad taste, thank you for making this Mugi" Mio added.

"No problem wait till you try some of my berry porridge!" She replied enthusiastically.

After finishing Mugi's concoctions of berries and water in various ratios they started to pack their bags while Mugi and Yui helped fill up their bottles from the stream Mugi had found.

"I guess it's time to get going" Ritsu announced.

"Do we even know where we're headed?" Mio asked

She shrugged "If we follow the road we should get to a signpost that points home pretty soon."

"So you don't have any maps in that bag? Any compasses?" Mio pressed.

Ritsu laughed "Nope how can you expect me to bring that kind of stuff? I didn't even bring clean underwear!" Despite all her doubts about the situation Ritsu was the group's leader. They looked to her for guidance. If she shown them fear then the group would suffer. She had to seem confident and positive for everyone's sake.

"Listen guys we may not really know but if you all just follow me I'm sure we'll all be fine. I'm going to make sure that we all get home safely and quickly" Ritsu said.

The others nodded. Ritsu smiled, she was the leader.

* * *

**A/N I'm really sorry I took so long for this one. There is a reason for it though. My beta reader's hasn't been responding so I published it without him.**

**Because of that this chapter may seem even more mistake filled and raw than it normally does. Apologies for that.****.**

**The next update ****is going to be ****extremely soon. Either tomorrow or the day after. This chapter and the next were originally one chapter but I thought it made more sense to publish them individually. I guarantee that I will never take this long to update again. I've already written way more than I've published (I'm on chapter 11 at the moment) so it shouldn't take too long.**


	4. A long day on the road

**Chapter 4: A Long Day on The Road**

A red sedan roared past them, leaving a trail of smog behind it.

"Hey" Ritsu coughed waving her hands in the air "Come and pick us up."

It was no use, it kept driving.

"Jeez, there's only about one car every hour or so and when they finally come they ignore us" Ritsu sighed.

"Oh well I'm sure somebody will pick us up soon" Mugi said doubtfully.

"I don't think I can take any more of this. My feet hurt!" Yui groaned dragging her feet along the ground.

"All of our feet hurt Yui" Ritsu sighed "We're probably going to have to get used to that."

They carried on walking in silence, they'd been travelling along the same winding mountain road for most of the day and the strain was showing on all of them.

"Are we going to be home soon? How much longer is it?" The exhausted brunette whined.

"I don't know" Ritsu admitted "But if we keep following this road and the signs then we're sure to get there sometime."

They trudged on for a while.

"So what are all of you most looking forward to when we get home?" Mugi asked trying to make conversation.

"I'd like to have a nice long bath when I get home" Mio said looking down at her clothes "I'm really dirty."

Ritsu sniggered "I bet you are."

Mio thwacked Ritsu across the back of the head "Ritsu! I meant from sleeping on the ground."

"Ow that hurt"

"Well you deserved it"

"Maybe, when I get back I think I'd a long sleep and some nice food" Ritsu dreamed "What about you Yui what would you like?" Ritsu dreamed.

Yui pondered this question "Hmm Oh I'd just like everything to go back to the way it was before with us playing in the club room and eating cakes." She smiled "Although I guess it won't be exactly the same because Gita won't be there nor will Azu-nyan or Notaka or Ui." She started to look a little depressed at the situation.

"I know how about a sing along? Nothing like singing to boost moral right!" Ritsu claimed trying to improve Yui's mood.

"A sing along?" Yui asked still thinking about her friends in the shelter.

"Yeah it will be fun" Ritsu said in an upbeat manner.

"Someone might hear us" Mio worried.

"Mio you're a singer in a band you won't get very far if don't want people hearing you" Ritsu pointed out.

"I know but still its embarrassing" the shy girl cowered.

"Come on I'll start" Ritsu said "Kimi wo miteru to itsumo haato DOKIDOKI" she sang, starting fuwa fuwa time.

"Wow I understand why you're not the singer" Mio said bluntly.

"Yureru omoi wa mashumaro mitai ni fuwafuwa" Ritsu continued boisterously

"itsumo ganbaru." "Itsumo ganbaru" Mugi chimed in.

"Mugi don't you join in too, you'll encourage her" Mio warned

"Kimi no yokogao" Yui joined in loudly a big smile forming on her face; this was her element after all.

Soon the three of them were singing loudly and even Mio joined in quietly for the chores.

"Fuwa Fuwa Time Fuwa Fuwa time!" they finished loudly.

"That was fun, How about we do Cagayake girls now?" Yui suggested eagerly, her mood brightened by the singing.

"Maybe in a little while" Mio promised.

"See walking isn't so bad when you're singing is it?" Ritsu said happily. Judging from the lifted atmosphere of the group Mio was inclined to agree.

Mio stopped " Ritsu; look over there."

A little while along the road Mio had spotted a small gas station at the side of the road. This was the first human settlement they'd seen in hours.

"Great we can get some gas!" Yui rejoiced "Maybe we can burn it and look at the pretty flames."

"That's not a good idea Yui but we can still use this place" Ritsu said.

"She's right; it's a human settlement, there should be somebody inside to help!" Mio agreed.

"Maybe they'll have a working phone as well" Mugi suggested.

"Oh and they might have food too, gas stations normally have a little shop" Yui added joyfully.

"Great, let's go there already!" Ritsu shouted as her and Yui raced off towards it.

"There's no need to run everywhere" Mio protested as the two brunettes sped off.

* * *

There was no sign of life at the station, just a few filling stations and a building nearby, no cars no people. Yui and Ritsu reached the forecourt. The station was almost eerily quiet.

Yui pushed open the door and entered the shop "Hello?" she called, nobody answered. The shop was small for a service station, just a few rows of snacks and magazines next to a deserted counter. "Anybody there? We're not bad guys we're friendly" Yui called again moving further into the shop.

"It's probably abandoned" Ritsu concluded quickly moving to the aisles of candy "Look at this stuff. It's not exactly healthy but at least its food, they've got skittles as well Yui."

"Ooh Yummy" Yui said grabbed a handful of packets of candy. After only having berries for breakfast they were all hungry for more.

"Where is everybody?" Mio asked as her and Mugi entered the shop.

Ritsu shrugged "Dunno must have gone to a shelter or it means we can take all this stuff for free."

"We can't do that, it's stealing!" Mio asserted.

"It's fine, we need food even if it is just junk" Ritsu stuffed some energy drinks into her bag.

"Ritsu I'm not so sure about this" Mio said quietly.

Yui started to eat a packet of skittles before throwing some at Mugi "Here Mugi taste the rainbow!" She was aiming to get them in the blond's mouth but most missed.

"How delightful" Mugi beamed.

"Yui now you've got skittles all over the floor!" Mio scolded.

"Are you trying to start a candy fight Yui? Because if that's what you want take this!" Ritsu catapulted a handful of jellybeans at Yui.

Mio sighed "If you're all going to be so immature, then I'm going to use the toilet. I'll be back in a couple of minutes" she excused herself.

Yui laughed happily "Have some starburst Ritsu!" she announced flinging them everywhere.

"Oh no you don't eat this!" Ritsu countered throwing some M and Ms at her.

Continuing their fit of euphoria Yui and Ritsu laughed and threw candy everywhere while Mugi observed and sampled the various treats.

"Yui! Ritsu! Stop making all this mess!" Mio shouted loudly when she came back out of the lady's room.

Ritsu halted her candy bombardment of Yui and looked at Mio with faint annoyance.

"Lighten up Mio, we're just having a bit of fun" Ritsu replied.

"Yeah Mio have some candy" Yui threw some skittles into Mio's face. She was not amused.

"STOP THAT YUI!" she shouted.

"Okay" Yui conceded.

"Listen all of you, we've got what we came her for food, we should leave now, there's no need to wreck the place" she insisted.

Ritsu reluctantly stopped "Fine, if Mio's gonna be such a spoilsport we might as well leave, come on Yui take as much as you can."

They scooped up various drinks and bags of sweets into the backpack until it was full.

Ritsu put back on the now weighty rucksack "Come on guys lets go."

"Not so fast" A gravely voice from behind them croaked.

"Uh oh" Yui whimpered as they turned around.

The voice belonged to an old woman, maybe in her late fifties to early sixties, with a saggy narrow face and small eyes. She wore the employee's uniform of the gas station but that wasn't what drew their attention. In her hand there was a pistol and it was pointed directly at them.

"Um this isn't what it looks like, there's been a misunderstanding" Ritsu said nervously putting her hands up in peace.

"I don't see any misunderstanding. You delinquents vandalize my supplies and steal my wares" she accused haughtily. Her hands were shaking badly.

"We didn't mean to" Yui protested.

"I'm sorry about my friends" Mio tried to explain "You see we got shut out of our shelter and we don't have any money or food so..."

"I don't buy it!" The women barked "Nobody gets shut out of shelters, you're lying! You just want to steal from me."

"We're not trying to steal from you!" Yui shouted trying to convince her.

"Nonsense! You scum are trying to steal from an old woman. I'm going to calling the Kempeitai on you all. See how you like that!" she insisted, her eyes were full of fear as she looked at them with disdain.

"The Kempeitai?" Yui asked.

"You know their the guys that get rid of the bad people. Dissidents and people who don't like Japan" Mio whispered.

"SHUT UP! You have no rights now!" The woman shouted waving the gun around.

"You can't do that we're not dissidents, we're patriotic Japanese citizens, and we love our country" Ritsu insisted.

"We're just cute schoolgirls, we're not criminals, we're innocent!" Yui shouted.

The woman wasn't having any of it she started dialling the number while keeping the gun pointed at them.

Ritsu whispered into Mugi's ear while Yui talked to Mio.

"Hey Mio what's going to happen if the Kempeitai come?" Yui whispered with concern.

"Nothing good" Mio said grimly "I've heard stories…"

"Pipe down over there!" the woman shouted evidently having trouble operating her modern phone "I need to get this damn thing to work."

"Excuse me can I try?" Mugi asked politely.

"Who are you? Stay back!" the woman warned waving the gun at Mugi.

"I'm Tsumugi Kotobuki" she replied calmly.

"What is that name supposed to mean something to me?" the woman croaked back.

"It does to some people, what's your name?" She asked.

"It's Tamura, Eriko Tamura, what's it to you anyway, you shouldn't be asking questions" the woman replied harshly.

"Oh no particular reason, it's a lovely name after all" Mugi smiled "do you run this place?"

She looked saddened "I suppose I do now, it used to be my husbands."

"Did something happen?" Mugi asked.

"He got called up to fight, he was deployed in Fujian a couple of years ago, when he went he told me to look after this place. So I did for a few months, it wasn't much of a problem. Then a letter came, from the army. Turns out he was killed in battle so I'm on my own now. Looking after this gas station is what he wanted me to do. I'm not going to let a bunch of thieves steal my products." She put her hands back on the pistol "I shouldn't even be telling you this, it's none of your damn business."

Tamura's hands were shaking even more now; her eyes were wild and full of terror. Mugi put a reaffirming hand on her shoulder "I'm sure your husband was a very brave man and he died fighting for his country. Not so you could point a gun at innocent girls."

"Yeah he wouldn't want this Tamura, we're innocent" Yui shouted.

The woman looked conflicted "Maybe you have a point."

The girls exchanged a look of delight.

"So you're going to let us go?" Ritsu asked.

"Give back what you took" she barked waving the gun at Ritsu "all of it!"

"Okay I can do that" Ritsu said cautiously walking towards her.

"Do the right thing" Mugi smiled to the women who still looked uncertain.

Ritsu walked closer to the woman, just inches away from barrel of the pistol.

"Come on, hurry up I don't have all day" Tamura snapped still aiming the gun at Ritsu's head.

"Okay in a minute" Ritsu carefully removed her backpack and held it in her hands.

"Now get it out now, give me back my merchandise!" the women commanded.

Ritsu started to unzip the back slowly; she could see the old woman look relieved that she was getting it back, Ritsu's face turned to a glare.

"No way you old hag!"

Ritsu swung the bag as hard as she could at the old woman's face. The impact sent her staggering backwards and the gun flying out of her hands.

"Run!" she shouted at the others.

"Ritsu, what are you doing?" Mio screamed.

"Don't ask that now let's just get out of here!" Ritsu grabbed the gun off the floor and flew out of the building the others following in shock.

They ran out past the forecourt and didn't stop running for about five hundred meters. When they stopped they all looked at her in confusion Yui looked particularly confused.

"Why did you do that Ricchan, she was going to help us."

Ritsu panted and shoved the gun into her skirt "What I did there was save our asses."

* * *

Later they found a place beneath a large tree to camp for the night. Yui and Mio arranged the fire.

"If you arrange it like this I think it will burn longer" Mio showed Yui.

"Can I light it this time" she asked.

"Sure just make sure to be careful" Mio smiled back. Yui flicked on the orange lighter to a small area of dry leaves at the bottom of the pile. The blaze caught quickly and soon an orange inferno roared in front of warmed her hands in front of it "It's pretty isn't it?" she asked.

"It is quite nice" she agreed.

"Ricchan don't you want to come over to the fire?" Yui called.

Ritsu was several meters away practicing pulling out the pistol she'd found earlier and aiming it. "No thanks I'm fine here" she said drawing it again.

"Do you even know how to use that?" Mio asked sceptically.

"Course I do my Dad taught me some stuff, it's just point and shoot basically" Ritsu replied whipping round the gun.

"You don't have a clue do you?" Mio accused.

Ritsu tossed the gun up in the air and caught it again.

"Wow cool" Yui said in awe, she ran up to Ritsu "Hey can I handle gun-kun please?" she said admiring the small pistol.

"I'm not sure you're to be trusted with a gun" Ritsu replied cautiously.

"Like you can be trusted with a gun Ritsu you'll probably use it to mug an old woman" Mio said.

Ritsu turned to Mio "You're not on about that again are you? Back there, I did what I had to okay!"

"No you didn't have to do it. There could have been a better way out" Mio argued.

"Yeah Ritsu why did you hurt the nice old women" Yui turned on her.

Ritsu was exasperated "She wasn't a nice old women, she had a gun!"

"You have a gun" Mio pointed out.

"Look, if I hadn't done it she would have handed us to the Kempeitai, that's the end of it. I don't want to spend the rest of my youth in a cell" Ritsu argued.

"She was going to let us go Ricchan. Mugi had a talk with her" Yui contended.

"You don't have proof of that. How do you know she wasn't going to turn us in? If you were wrong we'd be in a jail right now." Ritsu demanded with her fists clenched.

"You don't know that she was" Mio shot back.

"Mio, you're just as naive as Yui if you think really think we can solve everything by "the power of friendship" No, that's why we have this bloody war!" Ritsu exploded.

"You acted violently and thuggishly, you don't even think Ritsu you just act!" Mio shouted.

The girl in question glared angrily at Mio "You're pathetic you really are" she muttered. Ritsu gazed at the others for support.

"Mugi you're with me right? You helped me with the plan" Ritsu asked desperately.

"Well actually Ritsu I do think she was going to let us go" Mugi finished apologetically.

"Mugi, not you too, fine" Ritsu huffed "But when you're all around the campfire eating candy later just remember who you have to thank for it okay?" With that she stomped off into the woods.

"Ricchan!" Yui called out.

"Don't worry about her Yui, she'll be back" Mio comforted shuffling closer to the fire.

"Are you sure?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, I just expect her to do something like that, that's not the Ritsu I know."

"What she did was a bad thing" Yui nodded "but Ricchan is a good person in her heart."

"Yeah, your right I'm just a bit worried about her that's all" Mio admitted.

Mio and Yui stayed near enjoying the warm glow of the fire while Mugi examined a magazine she'd picked up at the gas station.

It was a while before Ritsu returned to camp, but she did eventually trudge back, the other girls stared at her as she made her way to camp.

"You're back. Are you going to apologize?" Mio stared at her.

"No way I didn't do anything wrong!" she started but quickly lost the energy to argue "Okay I admit maybe I could have handled it better." She sat down next to her main opponent in the argument and looked her in the eye "I'm sorry okay."

Mio smiled "It's good that you can apologize maybe I shouldn't have shouted as much either."

"Yeah It's sometimes hard as a leader to make the right decision for everyone you know" Ritsu said apologetically.

"Hey Mio" She said.

"Yeah"

"Are you and me still okay you know as friends?" Ritsu asked awkwardly.

Mio gave a warm grin "Course we are Ritsu, you're my best friend. I'm not going to disown you after something like this."

"Wow your almost getting sentimental there Mio" Ritsu teased.

"That's not sentimental, this is sentimental." Mio gave Ritsu an uncharacteristic glomp Ritsu was caught off guard for a minute before she returned it. They embraced happily for a few minutes.

Ritsu's face was red when they broke up "Okay now that we've got that out the way let's eat some candy!"

* * *

**A/N Yeah; so here's the next chapter I hope you liked it. Sorry that not much is happening at the moment in the fic. Actually all of you should enjoy this bit while it lasts; this is the fun bit with candy and bears. It gets a lot heavier later on probably better but there's not as much singing and candy fights in it.**

**Don't expect this sort of speedy update to become regular although I'll try and get it out as quickly as I can. The next chapter has a lot of issues so I'll need to spend a while editing it. **

**Oh yeah for anyone disappointed that Azusa hasn't been in these last two chapters don't worry the next chapter is 100% pure Azu-nyan.**

**As always reviews are very good please write them if you want.**


	5. The Adventures of Azusa

**Chapter 5 the Adventures of Azusa**

Azusa climbed out of the shaft and caught her breath on the outside ground. It had been a long and difficult climb through the vents. Some parts had been so narrow that even she had trouble squeezing past them.

She'd had to frantically wiggle and hope that she wouldn't get stuck down there. If she had nobody would have come to help her, she would have stayed down there until she starved. Azusa was really glad she was finally out. Azusa didn't know how long she had spent down in the vents; far too long for her comfort she knew that.

It was night. She could see the stars twinkling above her as she lay on the mountain ground.

She was near the top of the mountain that housed the shelter. It was not a high mountain but it was still cold up there.

On a sunny day the view from up here must be incredible Azusa thought. However with the darkness Azusa could barely see a few feet in front of her, much less the shelter entrance, the road or any other indicator of where she was.

Azusa looked around her for any sign of her friends, a glow of a campfire, or the sound of their voices or just something to tell her she wasn't alone. She couldn't find any trace of them.

"Where are they?" she muttered forlornly.

With a slight sigh Azusa rose to her feet. She was above where they'd gone in so that meant her Senpai's were probably down the mountain. It would be less tiring than climbing the mountain but still challenging. She decided a well vegetated slope nearby provided her best way down. Carefully Azusa tried to edge her way down the slope, paying attention not to slip. The shoe's Azusa was wearing weren't designed for grip so she kept needing to grab onto small trees to steady herself.

"This isn't so hard" Azusa said to herself with a smile "I just need to...Ah!"

A loose rock caught Azusa off-balance.

"AH Ah AH" She flailed wildly to try to keep balance, but failed and ended up tumbling down the slope.

"WAH!" she screamed as she flew headfirst threw some bushes.

She rolled through brush and thickets before ending up tangled in a thorny bush.

"Ow" she moaned as she picked off thorns and bits or bush stuck to her "Today really isn't my lucky day."

After brushing her self off Azusa carried on forward with limited visibility. Feeling her way through the undergrowth with her hands and feet. The stars provided some light to aid her but it was hard going.

What's more there were noises in the dark, croaks and howls and grunts.

"Hello, guys?" she called out, an animal cry greeted her. She glanced nervously behind her.

"Ritsu, Yui are you out there?"

She pushed aside a branch and something furry leaped past her face.

"ARGH get away" she screamed but it was gone. Azusa steadied her self and started shivering "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to start looking for them at night. I should find somewhere to sleep" she pondered. She looked around; the ground nearby was hardly suitable for sleeping, it was rocky and sloped.

"What am I doing?" Azusa asked her self "I don't even know where I am. How am I going to find them?"

"And now I'm talking to myself; great" she sighed resuming walking.

"Maybe I shouldn't have left after all" she remembered the brown envelope in her pocket "no, this was the right decision, I don't want to get back there, at least not without them."

A few more paces through the undergrowth and she came across a muddy trail. It wasn't much but it was at least a sigh of human civilization.

"I can follow this! I might even come to a road and try to find them" she exclaimed giving out a soft yawn.

"Actually maybe It can wait until can do it tomorrow" she rubbed her eyes "It is way past my bed time."

She had been more prepared than the others. She didn't have a sleeping bag but she'd taken a lot of blankets from the shelter. She had also gotten a clean bin bag to make it waterproof.

Azusa arranged her makeshift bed up clumsily at the side of the path. She lay the blankets around her and put the bin bag over it forming her own little cocoon.

She rested her bag under her head and closed her eyes. Before she went to sleep she muttered "Goodnight Yui goodnight Ritsu, Goodnight Mio, Goodnight Mugi, I hope your all okay where ever you are."

* * *

Morning, Azusa woke alone and cold. After eating a snack bar from her rucksack she packed up her blankets and started the day's walking.

"Maybe I should try to get a good view-point to try to see if I can spot them?" She wondered. There was no shortage of good view points on the mountain and she soon found one with a view of the surrounding area. Looking out over the area she could see forests and fields stretching on for miles; but she couldn't see her friends.

"Where are you all? Where have you gone?" she asked them. As she would expect there was no reply.

"Come on Azu-nyan get a grip I've got to find them" she told her self before pausing to consider what she had just said "Azu-nyan? I guess I'm so used to Yui calling me that I'm starting to say it myself." With The reminder of Yui she focused again on how she was going to find them.

"I need to think rationally about this. Where would they have gone?" She pondered this for a minute.

"There's nowhere really for them to go" She concluded "I doubt they just stayed around here so maybe they're trying to get home?"

She sighed and carried on down the mountain "This would be so much easier if I'd brought my cell phone, I'm so stupid."

It was easier walking that yesterday due to the reduced gradient, but Azusa couldn't appreciate the flat ground because of the sheer amount of mud which clogged up the path. Her shoes were slowly being caked in a thick layer of the stuff.

""Please don't say you are lazy" Azusa sang quietly to her self. Birds twittered in the trees above her.

"Hi birds do want to sing with me?" she asked looking up at them.

When they didn't answer Azusa realized she was talking to birds. "What am I doing? I don't normally talk to myself or to birds" she asked before sighing "I guess I'm missing the others a lot."

She was right. Azusa did miss them, it had only been a short day since the last time she'd seen them but she was so used to their company without them seemed incredibly lonely.

After a few hours walking with only nature for company Azusa found a road. It was like a grey river through the green landscape.

"A road? If they're going home they'll probably be travelling down this" Her face fell "Except they're probably miles ahead of me by now, and I only have short legs so I won't be able to catch up with them."

A red sedan zoomed past, Azusa made sure to get out of its way. "Maybe If the road curves around a bit I can try to go across those fields to intercept them later" It was a long shot and Azusa knew it but she didn't have any other ideas "If they are going that way that is, I might just be getting further and further away from them."

She shook off the thought and crossed the road to the field; it involved climbing over a small barbed wire fence first. Azusa prodded it with a stick to make sure it wasn't electric before climbing over. From what Azusa could see the field was empty

"I really hope there isn't a bull or anything here" she looked around nervously before progressing.

The field was large, the size of several football pitches and it felt empty and unfriendly. Azusa trekked across the barren field for what felt like ages before she came to a small fence separating the field from the grounds of a large farm-house. The house looked old but it was impressive, three stories and about twice the size of Azusa's home.

"Whoa I wonder who lives there" she said as she vaulted across the small fence into the grounds.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" a voice called "This is my property!"

Azusa froze "Should I run, or try to talk my way out of it?" she wondered.

An old farmer with a shotgun approached angrily.

"I'll run" she decided sprinting off into the woods.

"Hey come back here you" the farmer called.

* * *

Azusa managed to get away relativity easily, she wasn't especially quick but she was agile and she had been able to out manoeuvre the old farmer.

When she arrived back in the middle of some woods something caught her attention. A lump of grey surrounded by stones in a clearing. Azusa approached it "Huh Ash? That must mean someone's been camping here" Azusa's spirits rose "Okay it doesn't mean anything I shouldn't get excited" she told her self. After all plenty other people camped out. When she thought this another thing caught her eye an empty packet of potato chips, the same one's Ritsu liked.

"That doesn't prove anything either" she asserted "Plenty of people like those potato chips."

The next thing to catch her attention was a patch of moss with an indent in it the shape of Mugi's head.

"And that doesn't mean anything too, none of this is evidence I'm not going get my hopes up by pretending they were here" she shouted turning around to see something carved into a nearby tree.

YUI HIRASAWA WAS HERE

"Okay I think I'm convinced now" she admitted "So this means they will be travelling down that road so to catch them I have to go..." back where she came from. Across the grounds of the farm house.

Azusa peered over the fence. She couldn't see the farmer she would be able to pass through undetected. Cautiously she started to tip toe into the field looking around her. Then she stepped on a twig.

SNAP

The farmer appeared from behind her.

"You again?" he shouted.

"Ah I've got to get away!" hurrying Azusa rushed through the trees as fast as she could.

The farmer ran after her.

She ran through the woods until she got to an area with a wooden fence. Azusa couldn't see what was the other side of it but she vaulted over...

... Right into the middle of a chicken coop.

"Wah" Azusa landed on her bum in the middle of a sea of chickens, feathers went everywhere.

"Oh no I think I broke an egg" Azusa felt something gooey on her back. A nearby brown chicken perched on her head.

"Get off Chicken" she flailed wildly. Before she froze as the wooden gate to the open coop began to open.

"Please don't hurt me" she screamed putting her hands up.

The elderly farmer stood in the doorway; now that he was closer she could see him better. He wore a long coat emblazoned with the Japanese flag and black boots, his face was hard from years out in the fields. He stared at her "I ain't gonna hurt you girl, you're one of us."

"Huh" Azusa said still a bit scared.

He nudged the shotgun in her direction "Still you better have a good reason for trespassing on my land."

Azusa fumbled for an answer "um you see I was trying to look for my friends."

"What were you kids doing, playing hide and seek?" he said in a gruff manner.

"No, they got shut out of the shelter I went out looking for them" she answered, a chicken squirmed past her.

"The shelters eh? Take it from me, your better off without them" he grunted. "

"The shelters are meant to save people" Azusa protested.

He scoffed at that "nah bunch of death traps all of them, Japan isn't going to fall I'll make sure of that" he raised his shotgun. "What's your name anyway girl?" he said extending a hand to help her up; she grabbed it and was pulled to her feet.

"Azu-ny… I mean Azusa, Azusa Nakano" she corrected her self.

"Nakano-chan, your friends are in this area right?" he asked her.

She nodded "Yeah, at least I think so."

"Alright if you want I'll give you a ride in the tractor and we can have a look for them" He asked.

"Really, that would be great I could cover so much more ground" Azusa smiled.

"Alright then follow me" he said leading her out of the coop into the farmyard. Azusa wiped the raw egg off her skirt and hurried after him. The farm was in the middle of a valley, the small section of flat land around the area, mountains towered up on both sides and a large barn marked out the farmyard.

"So you live here on your own?" Azusa said.

"Yep, wife's dead kids and my grand-kids doing their service to their country, It's just me out here, well" he glanced at the barn "I'm the only proper person around here."

"Oh okay, this seems like a nice farm" she said making small talk, she wasn't normally one for socializing with old men but after a day of walking on her own she felt a need for company.

"Yup it's alright, its nice to be out in the fresh air" he answered "here we are." A large red tractor, caked with as much mud as Azusa's shoes but relatively new looking.

"Oh so we're going in there?" Azusa asked.

"Sure are hop on board."

Azusa squeezed into the small cabin, it seemed awfully high to her. He revved the engine and drove it out of the yard.

"So girl do you have any idea which direction your friends might be?" he asked.

"Um we were heading home so South I guess" the farmer turned right. He scanned the sides of the road as they drove past.

"What exactly are we looking for, who are these friends of yours?" The farmer asked.

"Well their kind of hard to describe" Azusa pondered "one has medium length brown hair, that's Yui, she acts very clumsy and ditzy but she'd a really nice and fun person. Then there's Ritsu, she's loud and tomboyish but is entertaining and funny, Mio's quiet and shy but she's really intelligent and helpful , and Mugi's one of the kindest and most gentle people I've ever met." She smiled at the thought of them.

"Sounds like you really like these friends of yours" he snorted.

"Yeah we're very close, back at school we were in a band together" she said.

"A band? Useless" he scoffed "There's a war on; you should all be doing something for your country not making nice sounding noise."

"But it's fun" Azusa protested.

"Humph, what are your friends like? They good citizens, patriotic?

"Um I think so" Azusa said. They all pledged allegiance to the empire every morning at school but that was the extend of their patriotic actions.

"Good, that's the problem with today's youth they're not patriotic enough." He banged the dashboard "Don't you know you youngster have a duty to your country. To protect it from those damn Chinese. Too much Foreign influence, that's the problem polluting young minds with lies of so-called "War crimes". I hate all of them, foreigners, the damned Chinese are the worse but who do thinks supporting them?"

"Um I don't know the Koreans?" Azusa said thinking of some of the K-pop she liked.

"No the Bloody Americans and the Russians, they're the problem. Too cowardly to fight us outright so they just supply the Chinese with weapons and Vehicles. Without them they wouldn't be able to fight us, not smart enough you see" He explained "And don't get me started on the British, scum the lot of them."

"Oh those are some interesting views you have their" Azusa said not mentioning the fact that she was planning on going to London with the band when they graduated or that she enjoyed watching American movies or even that she liked those Russian dolls that go inside each other. If she told him any of that then He's defiantly think that she was indoctrinated with foreign influence.

So they carried on in silence for a few minutes. Azusa gazed at the farmer's shotgun resting on the seat.

"I thought guns were meant to be illegal in Japan" Azusa inquired.

He glared at her "This, I need this, what else am I meant to do when the Chinese come knocking, I can get a good dozen of them before they take me down."

"Oh I see" she said as they drove past a deserted gas station.

"Lets focus on finding your friends" he carried on driving.

They spend hours out in the tractor looking but couldn't find them. They circuited the same roads again and again but there was still no trace. In the meanwhile they talked. Azusa told him about her life and her friends and he told her about working on the farm. Azusa tried her best to steer the conversation away from any contentious topics but it was difficult when it seemed to be all he wanted to talk about. When he finally dropped her back off at the farm it was dark outside.

"Well thanks for helping me Farmer-San" Azusa said graciously "It's a shame we couldn't find them though. I better get going."

"You don't have to go. It makes no sense you camping out in the wild when I have a house that you can stay in" he offered.

"Really, thank you very much" she said jumping on the opportunity. Last night hadn't been pleasant for her; it was far too cold for one thing. The thought of having a warm bed was appealing to her; even if it was in the house of someone she barely knew.

"Yup you can stay the night if you want" he confirmed.

"Thank you, you really are a nice person" Azusa smiled.

"Alright come on in then" he said inviting her to his house.

"Aside from your political views maybe" Azusa added quietly when he was out of earshot.

He led her into his house and upstairs to a small room covered in pink and purple "You can sleep in here, this used to be my daughter's room"

"Thanks this is much better than sleeping outside" she said warmly.

"Alright, come down in about an hour and I'll have dinner ready" he said.

When Azusa descended she found he had laid out the table in a fancy manner, even though it was just the two of them.

"I don't get many visitors you see, I hope you like udon, its pretty much all I can do" he said plonking a large bowl of it on the table.

"No it's fine that looks great" Azusa exclaimed taking a seat on the Tatami mat. The house was very traditional, if it wasn't for the radio and the television it could have come from centuries ago.

"Itadakimas" Azusa said happily as the old man sat down to eat with her.

He watched her eat for a while "Good?" he asked cagily.

"Yep it's delicious" Azusa smiled back, after a day of not much food the warm noodles tasted heavenly to Azusa. She gulped them down so fast she hoped she wasn't being rude.

"It's good you like it, nothing like traditional Japanese food" he said "My wife used to make this you know."

"I'm sure it was very nice" Azusa said awkwardly.

"Nah it tasted like shit" he grunted back "I can tell she put effort into it though, never had the heart to tell her other wise She was a lovely women she really was, not all there sometimes but kind and loving, she really liked ducks. "

He looked pensive "Do you mind me asking what happened to her?" Azusa ventured wearily.

"I'll tell you what bloody happened to her, they got her, bloody scum" he grunted.

"Who got her?"

"The Chinese the yellows! Those bastards!" He ranted.

"Oh this again what happened?" Azusa asked.

"It was when I was in the military, serving my country in Manchukuo province in China. I was stationed there long-term so me and my wife moved out there." He paused for a couple of seconds "It happened about a year after we moved there, when the kids were still young, me and my wife went on a night out. Well that was the night the locals decided to have a riot to protest Japanese presence. They destroyed Japanese cars, technology, businesses anything they could get their hands on, and then they got her. They could tell we were Japanese because of ours clothes I think, we were better dressed than most of the peasants over there. The grabbed her and started beating her till she was unrecognizable. I didn't do anything, I couldn't I was being beaten until I was almost dead myself." His old face sagged a bit "Later she dies of her wounds."

Azusa didn't really know what to say. "That's horrible" she managed "I'm sorry it happened."

"I'm sorry I let it happen" he answered.

Azusa looked down "But why? Why would they do something like that?"

"Why I'll tell you why" Colour returned to his face "Because they're scum! Every single one of them" he banged his fist on the table "They have hearts of pure evil. The Chinese deserve everything we gave to them and more. This country will not restore its honour until all of China is under the boots of their rightful rulers."

She gazed at him uncertainly "I'm sure their not all bad."

He rounded on her "What did you say girl?"

"I just mean I know you've had some bad experiences with Chinese people but I'm sure most of them are nice" she said quietly

"You have some nerve to say that girl, have you seen these people? Their scum!" He looked at her furiously.

Azusa struggled to hold her ground in his sea of rage "You're wrong! They're just people like us."

The farmer toppled over his chair and put both arms on the table "listen girl" he said menacingly "I let you come in my house, I looked for your pathetic little friends, I share food with you and you treat me like this." She could feel his hot breath on her "You're a naive little traitor fool" he spat "get up! I need to show you something."

With him like this Azusa didn't dare refuse. He tugged her out of the house roughly by the arm "Its people like you, pathetic worthless fools who are too blind to see what's in front of them. You are the reason this countries losing the war!"

" "Stop you're hurting me" Azusa whimpered.

"You have no honour, no patriotism, you play in band when you should be doing your duty" he threw open the barn doors and tossed her to the ground.

"Urgh!" she shouted as she fell to the ground.

He wretched her to her feet

"Look!" he shouted pointing to the confines of the barn.

Azusa gasped.

Three people were chained up naked in the barn. They were dirty, skinny and covered in bruises.

"Chinese! Look at those subhuman scum! I found them a couple of months ago saying they came to Japan for work. They think I'd believe that? It's all lies! They're spies for the enemy!" He cackled.

The barn was dark but Azusa could see the faces of the two women and the man twisted in fear.

"You're insane! You can't do this!" she shouted at him.

"Their mine I can do what ever I want with them!" He delivered one of the women a hard kick to the face with his large boots. She fell to the ground in pain. He kicked her again and laughed "Time you bastards got what you deserve" he picked up a nearby pitchfork, completely lost in the moment.

"I'm sorry about your wife but this isn't the way to react!" she shouted in desperation.

He wasn't listening. The farmer stood over the women with the tool in his hand and a smile of mad glee on his face. He

Swung the pitchfork at her face to create a large gash wound. Then did it again and again.

"Just stop it! Stop it!" Azusa screamed tears forming.

The women cowered before him as he prepared hit her again.

"Don't do that!" Azusa looked for something; she found a shovel "Just stop it!"

"Say your prayers you little bitch" he cackled as he tormented her.

Azusa rushed forward shovel it hand.

"I SAID STOP IT!"

With all her might she swung the shovel at the back of his head.

The blow impacted with a spray of blood. He was sent stumbling forward to the ground.

Through tear filled eyes Azusa swung at his sprawled body "DON'T DO THAT!" She hit him again and again and again until he finally stopped moving.

"Don't" she whimpered as she fell to the floor. She wept; with her arms covering her face she curled up into a small blood covered ball and sobbed to herself.

"Why, why did I have to do that, why?" The Chinese prisoners shouted at her in fractured Japanese but she didn't hear them. Her wide eyes were filled with tears and her pigtails were dripping with blood.

"I wish Yui was here" she wept "I wish they were all here. I wish I wasn't so alone."

* * *

**A/N: So... did you all enjoy the chapter?**

**If anyone's hoping for a reunion then it's going to take a while; it gets worse before it gets better I'm afraid. Then it gets worse again.**

**Thanks to anyone that reviews. I'm interested to see people's reactions to this, especially the last bit.**


	6. The Deserted Town

**Chapter 6 The Deserted Town**

The rabbit twitched as the wind brushed past it. In the middle of a forest clearing it nibbled on small plants, completely oblivious to the watching predator. A slight noise from the bush made it stand to attention.

"Easy" Ritsu whispered as she aligned the sights of the gun to the centre of the rabbit; she would only get one chance at this. She prepared to take the shot.

"Hey Ricchan what you doing?" a girl behind her said loudly.

The rabbit darted off into the undergrowth.

Ritsu turned to face her "Yui you made it get away!"

"Made what get away?" she asked peering over the bush.

"The rabbit! I was trying to hunt it " Ritsu replied.

"Hunt it? You were going to kill a poor innocent bunny Ricchan" Yui looked shocked.

"Don't make it sound like that, we need food, we can't live on candy alone" she warned.

"Yeah maybe, but you can't kill innocent animals" Yui insisted.

"You eat meat don't you Yui?" The carnivore asked.

Yui nodded.

"Anyone ever tell you where all that comes from?" Ritsu asked. Before Yui could answer Mio interrupted.

"Hey you two, stop bickering and hurry up, we need to get going soon" she called

Ritsu sighed and holstered gun-kun "Come on Yui we had better get going, Mio summoned us."

They walked up to the camp where Mugi was extinguishing the remains of the fire and Mio had packed the last of their things into Ritsu's backpack.

"What's up Mio, do we really have to go this early?" Ritsu complained.

"Yes, I think we should try to cover as much ground as possible today" Mio said.

"More walking!" Yui exclaimed "But we walked yesterday Mio, Repetition is boring."

"Well its not going to be exactly the same Yui, I saw something yesterday, a signpost to a nearby town not far from here, I think it's a good idea to go there and check it out" Mio said.

"Good idea Mio" Yui said enthusiastically "It will be nice to visit a town, much better than walking."

"We're going to have to do some walking to get there, its ten kilometres away" Mio broke the bad news.

"Aw" moaned Yui.

"Do you think they'll be a phone booth there? I can't seem to get a signal on Ritsu's phone" Mugi said.

"Ask me before using my phone Mugi" Ritsu said exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry I was just trying to contact my mother. I'm worried about her" Mugi apologized.

"I guess it's alright then" the tawny haired girl agreed "We're all worried about our parents."

"There may be a phone booth there Mugi we can have a look if you want" Mio said.

"Alright lets head off to this town Mio likes so much" Ritsu said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"Can we sing again? I want to sing don't say lazy" Yui shouted as they set off.

"Aw not this again" Ritsu complained.

"You were the one who decided to sing yesterday" Mio pointed out.

"Yeah but does it always have to be our songs? The lyrics are kind of embarrassing" Ritsu said self-consciously.

"Well what do you want to sing Ritsu?" Mio asked.

"I don't know just something a bit rockier like Queen" Ritsu suggested.

"I'd like to sing some Macklemore" Mugi added helpful.

"Oh can we do some Bob Marley please?" cried Yui

"And maybe some Bruno Mars" Mio suggested.

"Seriously am I the only person here with a good taste in music?" Ritsu complained.

* * *

Azusa stared hard into the mirror; a broken scared little girl stared back. There was no trace of the flecks of blood that had splattered her face the night before. Only black bags under eyes to mark her lack of sleep. That night she'd slept in a dead man's house.

"I didn't even know his name" she mused solemnly.

She had a shower and then got out of the house a soon as possible. After she'd freed the prisoners she'd curled up in the bed for the rest of the evening. It hadn't been an easy sleep for her; nightmares had plagued Azusa all night every time she's closed her eyes. She was more than glad to get going. But to where?

"I'll just keep following the road" she said "maybe I'll find them today." Azusa didn't believe that at all but it was all she had. With that thought in her mind she started walking after her friends.

* * *

"…After that Ui never let me near the superglue again" Yui said finishing her anecdote. The whole group laughed.

"Nice story Yui, stuff like that really helps pass the time" Ritsu said as they carried on walking. It had been a few hours since they'd left but they were all already feeling the strain. It was Mugi who spoke next.

"Did any of you hear the bombs last night?" she asked breaking the tone. The others looked at her.

"I did" Mio answered "they kept me awake for a long time."

"Really? I didn't hear anything I was way too sleepy" Yui added cheerfully.

"Those bombs, I think they were trying to hit a nearby town, the town we're going to" Mugi figured "that's why I brought it up."

"What are you saying Mugi?" Ritsu ventured.

"That we should be ready for what we find there" The blond added.

Ritsu was taken aback by the statement before she nodded. "Yeah we should."

"Do you think we're nearly there yet?" Yui asked changing the subject

"It will be soon Yui don't worry about it" Ritsu comforted.

It was a miserable grey day; cloudy and overcast with a strong breeze. It wasn't cold though which was something they were all thankful for. When the nights got colder in a few weeks time, a thin blanket between four of them wouldn't be enough to keep out the cold. They kept walking and soon they could see the small settlement ahead of them nestled in the foothills of a mountain; smoke was coming from it.

"Is that from the bombs?" Mugi worried.

"I think so" Ritsu replied quietly.

"Maybe coming to this place wasn't such a good idea" Mio suggested edgily "We should go back."

"Mio wasn't it your idea in the first place?" Ritsu pointed out "It may be dangerous but we need supplies and who knows someone in there could give us a lift back home."

"Ritsu I'm not sure of this" Mio warned.

"I get it Mio, you're scared" Ritsu turned to her "But look at it this way, if they've already bombed the place then it's not likely they'll do it again right? Besides we've still got this little thing to protect us" she gestured to gun-kun tucked into her skirt.

"I suppose" the dark-haired girl answered far from convinced on the course of action "but there's the risk that..."

"Mio-chan! Ricchan look over here! There's a nice kitty" Yui called, interrupting her. A small black cat was licking its paws on the side of the road. "This cat is super cute" Yui smiled bending down to let it lick her hand.

"It's just a cat Yui" Ritsu said.

"It's a very cute cat can I keep it?" Yui said happily petting it.

"No obviously not" Ritsu denied.

"Sorry Yui but it already belongs to somebody it wouldn't be right to take it" Mio said more gently.

"Okay" Yui stroked the cat some more, making it raise its tail in defiance "Hah ha Kitty you're so silly" she laughed.

"Yui I think you've petted the cat enough now" Mio said.

"It is a very lovely cat" Mugi said joining in the petting.

"Mugi not you as well, we need to keep moving" Ritsu said "Come on you two let's get going."

"Okay if you really want me to" Yui reluctantly let the cat go from the uncomfortable experience of being stroked against its will.

They carried on walking and Mio said to Ritsu "As I was saying I really think we ought to reconsider our plans."

"You know I think I know why I liked that cat so much" Yui pondered interrupting again "It reminded me of Azu-nyan."

Half an hour later they had almost reached the centre of the town. It had been small and rural; harbouring only basic facilities, still at least it was a settlement. Even if at least half the buildings were partly or completely destroyed. None of them could see anybody about.

"Wow this place sure is eerie" Yui said in wonder.

"Hello" Ritsu called out "anyone there?" Nobody answered her.

Mio tugged at Ritsu's arm "I don't like this."

"Nor do I, but we're here now we should try to find what it is we came here for. We didn't take a ten kilometre detour here for nothing." Ritsu argued; Mio had to agree with her it wouldn't make sense to leave now.

The four of them stopped near a bombed out building and looked around for any sign of people. Yui began to clamber up a pile of rubble that had been a house; knocking dust, plaster and wood to the floor as she did so.

"Yui what are you doing there?" Mio asked.

"Climbing I want to see what's up there" Yui said scrambling up the heap of building materials.

"That looks dangerous" she protested.

Yui didn't listen and soon she reached the top of it without falling down or hurting her self.

"Wow you can see a lot from up here" she said in wonder from up on the mound of rubble.

"Can you see any places to get supplies?" Ritsu asked.

"I can see all sorts of things" Yui replied happily.

"Really? I want to go up too" Ritsu said quickly joining her. Soon all four girls were perched on top of the rubble looking out across the town. Ritsu assumed by all sorts of things Yui had meant buildings rubble and trees. Still it provided a nice view over the town.

"It is a quite nice view up here" Mugi as she tried to find a comfortable place to sit on the debris.

"It wasn't worth getting splinters on my feet to come up here Mio grumbled "and we can't see anything to help us."

"We all needed a bit of a break after all that walking, besides from here we can work out a good plan of action" Ritsu explained taking a drink of water from her bag.

"Yeah Ricchan what are we going to do? I thought we were going to try to find some nice person to help us but there's nobody here" Yui looked worried.

"There has to be somebody still here, it's a town, they can't of all get up and left, we need to try to find them" Ritsu reasoned.

"What we need is supplies" Mio butted in "More food especially and water, maybe we can try to find a map as well."

"I'd also like to find a phone to call my parents" Mugi added.

"I want to find a comfy bed to sleep in" Yui added excitedly "or a beanbag; that would be super comfy, let's try and find some beanbags!"

"Okay, it looks like we have some things to look for" Ritsu said "That's our plan of action."

"Are plan is to search the whole town for these things? That's going to take a long time. It doesn't seem very efficient" her dark-haired friend said.

"How about we split up then?" Mugi suggested "If we do that we could search the town more quickly."

"Good idea Mugi" Ritsu congratulated "Me and Mio go find us some food and supplies and you and Yui try to find a phone booth and some beanbags, and we'll both keep our eyes out for any people" Ritsu suggested as she stood up and stretched. "Come on Mio let's get going, we'll meet back at this pile of rubble in a couple of hours okay?" Everybody nodded except Mio

"I don't see why I have to be with you" she sulked.

"Aw come on Mio it will be fun" She slung her arm round her friend "Think of this as some quality bonding time."

"Ritsu don't act like that, this is serious" she protested "is spitting up really a good idea, they could get into trouble."

"It's fine Mio you take things too seriously sometimes" Ritsu complained "this towns safe, it's deserted so it has to be."

"Some things need to be taken seriously Ritsu, schoolwork is one and surviving for another" Mio replied as they set off.

Mugi watched them go as she stayed on the rubble pile with a half asleep Yui.

Mugi shook her "excuse me Yui; we need to go have a look for some things."

"I don't want to walk anymore. I want to sleep" she gurgled curling up into a ball.

"I'd like to sleep as well. I'm sure we'll find a nice place to sleep later, now we have to go look " she replied.

Yui got up reluctantly with that sentiment "Okay Mugi-chan if you really insist" she said before glomping Mugi for no reason at all.

"Um Yui would you mind if you stopped biting my head?" Mugi asked as Yui chewed on her hair while she hugged her.

"Oh sorry, I'm just really hungry" Yui said embarrassed "And it tastes so nice."

"It's alright" Mugi said as she and Yui slid down the pile of rubble to the floor creating a cloud of dust. Mugi put her hand to her mouth and coughed into it weakly.

"I can't see any sort of phones around here" Yui said looked around "or beanbags."

"There could still be some around; let's have a look" Mugi let Yui through the deserted streets the opposite way to which the others had gone. "Who knows maybe we'll find a lovely little café and have some tea" Mugi said hopefully.

"It would be nice to have some tea. I'm tired of just eating sweets, their nice but after a while they get sort of boring you know" Yui smiled.

"Too much of anything can be bad" Mugi agreed.

"Yeah The last few days have kind of weird, it's been fun being with all of you but it's mostly been hard, with all the walking…anyway I don't really mind too much because I'm with all you and camping is pretty fun!" Yui exclaimed "it's like a band field trip to the countryside but it's really tiring."

Mugi smiled and they kept walking "I wish I could share your enthusiasm."

Soon they came across a large open building, half collapsed, it looked like it had been some sort of police station before it had caved.

Mugi stopped "maybe we should have a look in there, if there's a police officer then they could definitely help us."

"I don't want to go in there; it looks scary" Yui argued.

Mugi pondered this "it does look scary; maybe you can wait outside while I go in."

"On my own? No way! I'll stay with you I know Mugi can keep me safe" Yui said having complete trust in her blond friend. Mugi smiled at her friend's misplaced faith in her.

The two entered the dilapidated building. There were no light and the windows were blocked out but even with the limited light Mugi could see the place was a wreck. Desks and cabinets were overturned and the ceiling had partly collapsed.

"There doesn't look like there's anyone in here Mugi-chan" Yui said.

"Let's try and look further in" the other girl said as she proceeded through the building.

Mugi ducked under a collapsed doorway ventured further in into a small dark room with Yui several paces behind her.

As she entered the room she gasped. There was something among the debris; a body. What had been a policeman was now split open and rotting. His eyes bloody and dead.

Mugi put her hand to her mouth in disgust "oh my."

"What is it Mugi?" Yui said following her into the room.

Mugi quickly put her hands over Yui's eyes before she could spot it.

"Huh are we playing guess who it is? Because I know it's you Mugi" Yui said.

"No we're not" Mugi said softly turning away "let's get out of here Yui; you were right, this building is scary.

They turned around and headed back out the way they came.

"What was it in there Mugi? I didn't see anything" Yui asked.

"Nothing Yui it was nothing" Mugi gave a fake smile "It was just a boring room, filled with boring things like bricks and paperwork. It was so boring that we're never ever going to go back in there okay?"

"Okay" Yui agreed.

"That was horrible" Mugi said to her self as they exited the building.

"This one time I found 500 yen just on the street" Yui said changing the subject.

"Oh did you take it?" Mugi asked unable to concentrate fully on Yui's ramblings.

"I tried to ask around to see if anybody dropped it but nobody had so yeah I did take it" Yui admitted "is that bad?"

"I don't think it's bad Yui It's fine to take things if no one else is using them" Mugi smiled.

"But when we took things from that gas station that women got angry" Yui pointed out.

"Yes that wasn't right because she owned those things just like invading somebody else's country and taking all their resources isn't right" she explained.

"Are you getting political again Mugi? I don't really understand you when you get political" Yui asked.

"No I wasn't trying to just trying to prove a point" Mugi said as she spotted something outside what had been a school. "Hey Yui look over there a phone box!" Mugi said excitedly. She sprinted over to it and Yui followed. It was a small cubicle with worn down advertisements on the side.

"It's weird that's these things still exist because everyone has cell phones now" Yui mused.

"Yes but we don't have one with us so it's very useful for us" Mugi said quickly dialling her parents number "I hope this works."

Mugi waited for them to pick up, she could hear the phone ringing the other end.

She waited a minute...

Then two minutes...

Then five.

"They're not picking up" Mugi concluded with worry in her voice "What do you thinks the matter is? They always answer he phone for me."

"They're probably just having an afternoon nap" Yui told her "when I'm sleepy I don't like to be disturbed not even for a phone call."

This explanation did not satisfy Mugi one bit. Fretting she took a seat on a nearby bench. Yui came to sit next to her and leaned on her.

"Yui do you think their okay?" Mugi asked "they didn't pick up, and considering what happened to this place…"

Yui caught her drift "Don't worry Mugi-chan they'll be fine, maybe they've gone into a shelter like we did."

"I don't think they would have gone to one without telling me. I don't know what happened with them. I'm really worried" Mugi said forlornly.

Yui patted Mugi's head and smiled "You shouldn't be sad Mugi, if you're sad then people around you will also be sad and that makes everybody sad. Everyone being sad is no good so Try and keep a happy face on things. Even if there's a lot of bad things try to focus on the good things like cake and singing! And Beanbags!" Yui gave a large grin and hugged Mugi.

"I think I understood some of that" Mugi said trying to work out what Yui had just said.

"Yeah I'm trying to say that it's best to not focus on the bad things and try to be happy and hope for the best" Yui grinned.

"Thank you Yui that has made me feel a little better. I'm sure my parents will be fine and I bet Mio and Ritsu have found us some nice food to eat as well" she said trying to look on the bright side.

"Yeah you're doing it right! Think positively Mugi, positive thoughts" Yui squinted hard waved her hands up and down in Mugi's direction.

"What are you doing?" Mugi asked.

"I'm sending you positive waves Mugi, happy feeling waves" Yui said smiling.

"Well now I am feeling better" Mugi giggled "maybe it is better to look on the bright side of things."

"That's what I like to think anyway" Yui nodded.

Mugi patted her head back "You can be very wise sometimes Yui you could be a philosopher."

Yui looked confused "A philosa-what? Is that some kind of dinosaur?"

"It's when you sit around and think of the meaning of life" Mugi informed her.

"I don't think I'd like that. I'm not really very good at thinking. The only thing I'm good at playing Gita, could I be a philosopher and play guitar? I might need deeper lyrics though" Yui pondered.

"Our Lyrics already are deep" Mugi explained "Fuwa Fuwa time is about theistic idealism in a depressing totalitarian world."

"Oh I thought it was just about fluffy things. You'd make a good Japanese teacher Mugi-chan, I'm not good at smart stuff like that" Yui said flopping out on the bench.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself Yui. I'm sure you know things too" Mugi put on a fake voice and said "Welcome back to who wants to be a millionaire with Mugi you're host and contestant Yui Hirasawa. Yui for half a million yen what is the capital of Moscow?"

"What!" Yui panicked "Oh no I didn't expect questions um I don't know Kyoto?"

"Wrong" Mugi smiled "it's a trick question Moscow is already the capital of the Soviet Union."

"Aw Mugi that's no fair you can't cheat. Shame on you, are the Soviets Unionists the good foreigners or the bad foreigners?"

"Um I think their bad, remember the rhyme we were taught in third grade? How did it go? _China, Russia, USA,__they'll__all be turned to dust one day_. I think that's how it went so yes I think they are the baddies" Mugi confirmed.

Yui sighed "I hate politics ask me a question on music I could get that right."

"Okay what is staccato?"

"Ah I don't know! I meant a question like what was the guitarist in The Beatles called? Because it's George Harrison right?"

"I believe so, we ought to be getting back Yui" Mugi looked at her watch.

"Aw but it's kind of fun talking to you Mugi I don't talk to you on your own much, unlike Ritsu and Mio they spend tons of time together, I wonder what they've been up to?" Yui wondered.

"Yes I don't know how two healthy adolescent girls such as them could spend a couple of hours alone" Mugi smiled.

"Eh well they could talk or sleep or eat… Yui suggested.

"Yui before we go I want to try the phone again" Mugi announced.

"Okay that's fine maybe your parents will have woken up now" her friend agreed.

Mugi went over to the phone box and retried the number.

There was still no answer.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was getting too long so I decided to split it into two. Sorry that nothing really happens in this one except some stuff with Mugi and Yui. There's a bit of a Mugi arc in this coming up actually about what happened to her parents. The next chapter shouldn't be too long. Splitting chapters in two means I can update faster. I don't know how people that don't follow this know it's been updated because a lot of people read this the day it's updated but aren't following it so I don't know how that works.**

**Reviews are very good so please leave one if you want to.**


	7. The Disappointing Tank

**Chapter 7: The Disappointing Tank **

"Hello can you hear us?" Ritsu shouted at an old man, sitting on a chair outside his home. He didn't respond.

"Ritsu I think he's deaf," Mio said.

She bent down to level he was sitting at and spoke slowly. "Hello I'm Mio and this is my friend Ritsu, do you know what happened here? Where can we find help?" He just stared at them in silence.

"I don't think he's going to talk to us," Ritsu sighed.

"It doesn't look like it," Mio agreed as she waved at the man and walked away.

"Great," Ritsu said, "The first person we see in this town and he's a mute. That can't help us."

"Let's keep looking we may find someone else around this place," Mio offered.

Ritsu and Mio continued down the street, they couldn't see anybody else, just empty shops; a desolate can rolled past them in the wind.

"Hey over here," Ritsu beckoned from the side of the street.

"What is it?"

"It's a store, a proper convenience store complete with food, we can stock up our supplies here", Ritsu smiled. It was small and unremarkable, so it hadn't caught Mio's eye before, but now she could see the small shop which looked like it could supply them.

"That's only if it's deserted. I don't want what happened at the gas station happening again," Mio said seriously.

"Relax, this time we'll double check if there's anybody in there before looting," Ritsu promised, trying to calm her down.

"And if there is?" Mio asked concerned

"Well we don't have any money, so I guess we'd either have to beg for some or give them you as a form of payment," Ritsu joked.

"I really hope there's no one in there…" Mio trailed off.

The shop was a modest size and its four aisles contained all the shopping products essential for a Japanese family.

"Hello!" Ritsu called out, "Anybody there?" Mio clung onto her sleeve and looked around nervously.

"What the matter Mio? Afraid an old lady is going to jump you?" the short haired girl laughed.

"No!" she hissed. "But it's important to be careful."

"Relax Mio they aren't selling any barnacles here, you know."

The two girls made sure to check the whole of the shop before declaring it deserted. Ritsu picked a drinks can from the shelf and took a swig. "You know I reckon we could stay here tonight," she suggested.

"Here in this shop? Are you sure? What if the owners come back?" Mio questioned.

"It should be fine, this place is great. I, for one, don't feel like lugging all this back to the meeting spot. If we stay here we can eat all we want of this tonight, plus it's warm," Ritsu reminded her.

"Is it safe though? What if what happened before, you know, happens again?" Mio looked serious.

"Well then we'll just have to deal with it won't we" Ritsu returned the look "I don't think it will though why would they want to bomb this place again? There's nothing here. Unless they really hate rubble and eeriness they're not going to bomb this town."

"Well it _would_ be nice to sleep somewhere warm for once…" Mio admitted.

"Sure it will! Let's see if they have a Kotatsu anywhere round here. It will make up for not being able to start a fire," Ritsu said looking in the employees' area.

Mio hurried after her. "Ritsu if you do find a Kotatsu we'll never be able to get Yui out of it."

Mugi and Yui arrived back at the meeting point first; by now the sun was beginning to set in the sky.

"Aw, they're not here!" Yui moaned. "You said we needed to get back"

"I thought we did," Mugi said looking around. "They'll be coming back soon I'm sure."

"What are we going to do now?" Yui asked.

"I could ask you some more questions?" Mugi suggested.

"Nah my brain still hurts from the one earlier; I'm going to climb on some more rubble!" Yui decided scrambling up another nearby building.

"I think it's great that your developing new interests Yui, but maybe it's best if you don't go searching around rubble too much," said Mugi remembering what she'd found earlier.

"I'll be okay!" Yui promised as she reached the near the top of the new building. "Whoa it's one of those…" she gasped.

"What is it Yui?" Mugi asked.

"Come up here!" Yui gasped.

"Yui what can you see?" Mugi said as she carefully climbed to the top.

"Look!" exclaimed Yui pointing to something parked in the middle of the road "It's a tank."

It was a large vehicle in green camouflage with a long extended barrel, its tracts seemed to be broken leaving it stranded. Mugi and Yui peered at it from the rubble pile. **  
**

"I've never seen one before…" Mugi said in awe.

"It doesn't seem to be moving." Observed Yui.

"Do you think it's safe?" Mugi asked.

"I don't know…" Yui said. "It looks broken."

Cautiously Mugi stepped down the other side of the rubble pile.

"Mugi-chan what are you doing? We were supposed to wait here for Ricchan and Mio," Yui said not wanting to part from the meeting place.

"I just want to have a closer look; it's intriguing, " she explained. Reluctantly Yui joined her friend near the back of the tank. They walked round to the side and Mugi touched it.

"Wow, it really is impressive," Yui agreed. "What do you think it's like inside?"

"Maybe we can find out," Mugi suggested with her eyes gleaming, she climbed up onto the side and extended a hand towards Yui. "Come on Yui." Yui grabbed her hand and was pulled up onto the tanks body.

Mugi crawled over to the hatch. "Yui its open we can go in!" she said excitedly.

"Mugi a few hours ago you said taking other people's things is wrong, this tank isn't ours," Yui was unsure about it. "I don't think we should be using somebody else's tank without their permission."

"Yui, this tank has been abandoned like litter; it's okay to take someone's litter isn't it?" Mugi asked as she lowered herself down into the tank.

"I don't think its like taking litter Mugi…" Yui whimpered as her friend disappeared down into the tank.

"My, my! You've got to come down here Yui it's fantastic!" Mugi called.

"Well okay, I'm going to come down," Yui said.

Inside the tank was small but packed, there were just enough room for Mugi and Yui to stand if they hunched over. There were three seats and a variety of buttons, levers and switches that Yui had no idea the function of.

"Wow, Mugi it's amazing down here it's like some sort of spaceship!" Yui said in awe.

"It's fascinating isn't it? I always wondered who one of these machines worked," Mugi agreed.

Yui took a seat at one of the chairs and looked out the periscope. "You can see outside with this Mugi, I wonder if we can see the others, they are going to think this is so cool!"

"Actually I don't think they'd appreciate this like we do. They might think it's dangerous," Mugi said trying various buttons and switches.

"It's not dangerous it's just fun; harmlessly playing around with a tank," Yui stated. **  
**

"Yes we can have some fun with this can't we? Tank commander Yui forward towards the enemy!" Mugi ordered.

"Aye aye general Mugi!" Yui said pressing some buttons and making noises to pretend to be the tank.

"Now, Yui ready the shells," Mugi ordered pretending to be the tank operator.

"Yes sir!" Yui said as she and Mugi pressed buttons in the tank.

BOOOOM

A shell discharged from the barrel with a loud noise clattering into a building sending it clattering to the ground.

Azusa heard it from the outskirts of town. She's been walking the entire day down the road to try and find them. As the sound bellowed out into the air she stopped in her tracks "Maybe it's not such a good idea to go to this town I better go past it, they're probably not there anyways.

"What was that?" Ritsu demanded as they rushed back to the rubble.

"I thought you said what happened here wouldn't happen again?" Mio said as they ran back.

"I thought it wouldn't! I hope Yui and Mugi are okay" Ritsu said.

"Oops…" Yui said.

Mugi looked devastated as she realized what they'd done. "Let's get out of this thing Yui," she said and they exited the vehicle. Mugi looked in horror at the building they'd destroyed. It had been a small house. "Yui you don't think there was anyone in there do you?"

"I thought this town was abandoned, there's nobody about," Yui said.

"You can't be certain Yui!" Mugi said grabbing her. "What if there was somebody hiding in there? What if we killed someone? I don't want to kill anyone Yui; I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Yui was taken aback by her friend's reaction. "Do you really think they could have? I didn't want to play in the tank in the first place Mugi-chan I didn't want this to happen."

"You're blaming me Yui?" Mugi said close to tears. "So it is my fault."

"No it's not," Yui said gently. "You didn't mean too."

"Yui, Mugi" They could hear Ritsu calling. "Where are you?"

"We can't tell them." Mugi put both her hands on Yui's shoulders. "We were never in any tank Yui."

"You want me to lie to them?" Yui said with distaste.

"Please you have to, they can't know, if Ritsu and Mio find out I don't know what will happe…" Mugi said shaking.

"Okay Mugi you can count on me" Yui promised "We didn't see a tank."

"Thank you very much Yui," Mugi said composing herself. "There's another thing that's been bothering me though. If that tank was empty then where are the people who came in it?"

They met at the pile of rubble as agreed by now the sun was beginning to set. Mugi and Yui were plastered with insincere smiles as if nothing had gone wrong.

"Yui, Mugi thank god you're okay!" Mio said relived.

"Did you hear that bang just now?" Ritsu asked.

"The bang?" Yui and Mugi looked at each other. "Oh that bang," Yui said. "That was a firework right Mugi?"

Mugi was unsure at Yui's cover story and so were the others.

"A firework? Really? Are you sure it wasn't a flare?" Ritsu asked

"That could mean somebody needs help," Mio realized. "Maybe we should search through some of the rubble to try to find people."

"No," Mugi quickly cut her off. "I for one don't remember seeing any flare yet alone a firework. I'm sure Yui was just getting confused again." She gave Yui an ice-cold smile.

"Well anyway did you get the phone?" Ritsu asked.

Mugi shook her head. "I couldn't get through."

"But me and Mugi still had a great time," Yui added. "We visited this scary place and then we had a talk about some interesting things then nothing happened at all," Yui told them.

"Well it sounds like our trip was more productive we found tons of food and a place to sleep for the night," Ritsu bragged. "No more sleeping on dirt floor for us."

"Until tomorrow that is," Mio pointed out with reluctance.

Soon they piled into the small shop and began to set up camp. They found that there was not nearly as much edible food in there as there looked to be. Most things needed to be cooked first or were fresh fruit and vegetables that had rotted. Still they found more than enough in there to eat including bread, pocky and instant ramen. Mugi sat dwelling in the corner while Yui chewed on this thoughtfully sitting on what would become her bed a piece of floor near the counter.

"Do you remember that first concert we played?" she asked.

"Yeah so what?" Ritsu asked.

"It was fun wasn't it? I miss stuff like that, I really liked performing and singing," Yui reminisced

"I didn't find it fun, it was traumatic," Mio argued.

"Yeah that was way back before Azusa even joined the band," Ritsu pointed out.

"I miss Azu-nyan too, she was so cuddly," Yui cooed, practically purring at the thought of her precious kouhai.

"It's alright, I volunteer Mio to be replacement Azu-nyan!" Ritsu cheered.

"What?! No! I'm not agreeing to this. Stop volunteering me for things Ritsu!"

"Mio-nyan!" Yui said as she threw herself at her, hugging her happily.

"Excuse me!" Mugi said loudly breaking the jovial scene. "Can I ask all of you a question?"

"Sure" Ritsu turned to her as Mio dragged Yui off of her.

"If somebody kills someone accidentally is it still murder?" she asked changing the mood of the store.

"Whoa that's kind of a heavy question Mugi," Ritsu answered. "I'm not sure I can answer that."

"Well I think it's still a crime," Mio reasoned. "Motives are important but what somebody actually did is important as well. For instances if somebody gets drunk and speeds in a car and kills somebody then that is their fault but I'm not sure it makes them a murderer."

"So anyway enough of that," Ritsu said not wanting to ruin the mood. "We've got a couple of hours before bedtime what do all of you want to do?"

"We could sing again?" Yui suggested. "Like we did when we were walking?"

"It's a bit weird singing without instruments," Mio said and Ritsu nodded.

"Aw but I came up with a new song earlier," Yui revealed.

"Really Yui how does it go?" Ritsu asked.

"Umm…" Yui put her hand under her chin in a way reminiscent of Auguste Rodin's the thinker and delved into the deepest brain. "I've forgotten it already!" she admitted.

"You should really write these things down…" Mio advised.

"How about we tell ghost stories?" Ritsu proposed shining her torch under her face. "Woo Mio it's going to be scary."

"No way is that happening!" Mio shouted.

"Really because I remember one dark stormy night when we were telling ghost stories and all of a sudden..."

"Stopitstopstopitstopstopit…" Mio chanted as she threw a bit of bread of Ritsu.

"Relax Mio I wasn't going to really say anything to scare you," Ritsu said. "Anyway Mugi you're being very quiet today, got any ideas?"

Mugi was examining her feet intently lost in thought. "Huh No sorry I'm just looking at my blisters."

"Well that wasn't very helpful I guess we'll just have to sit round and talk until bedtime," Mio said.

"No we don't, I have the perfect thing for this," Ritsu announced rummaging in her bag. "Cards! I'd forgotten we had these."

"Do you know any games to play with them?" Mio asked.

"I know poker, I used to play with my Dad and brother," Ritsu said shuffling the cards in her hands.

"We don't have anything to bet with," Mio pointed out.

"Hmm. We can use candy," Ritsu said. "We've got plenty of that."

"Yippee that sounds delicious and fun!" Yui cried.

Mugi watched Yui and her friends having fun setting up the game of poker; happily dealing out the cards. She couldn't share in their upbeat mood. Yui had been in the tank with her yet she seemed unaffected by the fact she may have been the accomplice in a killing. She was laughing and being happy like she normally was and Mugi couldn't understand it. Could she really be that oblivious to what was going on around her? In fact ever since they left the shelter it was as if Yui had acted more ditsy and klutzy than normal as if she was playing it up.

"Do you want me to deal you in?" Ritsu asked to Mugi.

"Oh yes please," Mugi said noticing the cards in front of us.

Half an hour later when they were all high on sugar the game was still being played.

"How an earth does Yui keeping winning everything?" Ritsu asked.

"I'm just really good at bluffing." Yui scrunched up her face intently. "See no expression."

"I haven't won anything," Mio sighed. "I'm broke on candy."

"I may be able to loan you some candy," Ritsu said candidly pushing some of her stash towards Mio. "At a high interest rate of course, adjusting for candy inflation you will have to pay me back double next hand."

"I'm not going to be in debt to you Ritsu," Mio refused Ritsu's shady offer.

"Then you have to do a forfeit if you want to stay it," Ritsu countered.

"What kind of rules are these?" Mio argued before accepting her fate. "Okay I'll do something, what do you want me to do?"

"Be Azu-nyan!" Yui shouted

"Strip?" Mugi offered

"Give me all your money," Ritsu said.

"They're all unreasonable!" Mio shouted. "I don't want to play poker anymore."

"Okay," Ritsu sighed. "We can play something else if Mio insists maybe snap or blackjack or..."

Slam!

The door to the shop burst open

Chinese soldiers rushed into the shop armed with rifles, the girls stared at them in utter shock. In a demanding voice, one shook his gun at them yelling in his native tongue. The girls couldn't understand them, they cowered away as far as they could.

"Ju qi shou lai! Ju qi shou lai!" He barked at her.

"Get away from us!" Mio screamed with her hands over her head.

One of the soldiers nudged a rifle into her face and she drew away from it. "Anjing de mugou!" he spat at her.

"We can't understand you!" Yui shouted as she put her hands up.

One of them stepped towards them, a large ugly man, making up in muscle and hair what he lacked in looks. "Ni de jundui zai nali!" he roared at them in a course voice. Ritsu tried to look strong as she faced him. "What do you want?" It came out as a whimper.

He responded with a hard kick to her chest. Ritsu grunted as it hit her, sending her sliding a few inches across the floor.

"Ni de jundui zai nali!" he repeated. One of the others looked at him and said "Tamen Zishi nuhai," calmly. "Taben shi riben ren!"

"I don't know what you're saying! Please just leave us alone!" Ritsu pleaded trying to stand up.

"Zhukou!" the solider waves his gun at her.

"Stop it!" Mio wept crying in the corner now. The brutish solider who's kicked Ritsu grabbed Mio by the jacket. "Zhe jinjin shi meili de." He leered at her while she struggled in his grasp.

"Leave her alone!" Ritsu shouted weakly.

"Shenme!" he roared stepping towards her.

The one who had spoke, who seemed to be in charge spoke once more. "Ràng qu nali shénme!" he ordered. The men began to file out; the large man gave Ritsu a look of contempt and delivered her another brutal kick before following them out. Leaving them in silence.

After that there was no more laughing and playing, the girls recovered and caught their breath not knowing what to say. Ritsu was hunched over in pain Mio still looked terrified and Mugi bewildered.

"Ricchan are you alright?" Yui asked with concern

Ritsu didn't answer.

"That was pretty scary wasn't it?"

Ritsu wiped her eyes and grabbed the playing cards. "Come on let's play another hand."

* * *

Azusa found shelter in an abandoned barn on the outskirts of the town. After she's heard the noise she's decided to go back. The barn was door-less and smaller than the farmers had been. It contained only some hay bales and some farming equipment. She lay down behind some hay bales; the straw on the ground formed a comfy bed for her. Using her rucksack as a pillow she lay down and mused to herself. "I hate this war, I hate the things it makes people do, I hate the thing it made me do."

A slight rusting in a haystack made her sit up. "Hello who's there?" she called out. "Yui?" The rustling was louder, Azusa got up to investigate.

"Rats?" she pondered as she poked the haystack with her foot. "Meow!" it angrily replied. A small black cat appeared out of it.

"Hi there Kitty-san." Azusa bent down and beckoned it towards her. It stretched before sauntering over to her and rubbing itself on her knees. Azusa petted it in delight. "Heh, you're so soft kitty-san." The cat broke out of her incessant stroking and sniffed her bag.

"Do you want some food? No problem." she rummaged in her bag to bring out Sukonbu. "Here you go." She held it out with her arm outstretched. The feline sniffed before nibbling a bit and curling up lazily next to her. Azusa disturbed it from its rest by picking it up with both hands and examining it at arm's length. She stared into its eyes and tilted her head at it.

"You know you kind of remind me of one of my friends" she observed "You're lazy, cute and you like food. I'll call you Yui!" The cat meowed loudly. "Okay I'll put you down in a minute, just one more thing." She pulled the cat towards her and nuzzled her face against the soft fur "Aah," she said with a look of blissful contentment on her face.

She heard voices, footsteps coming into the barn. Quickly she ducked behind the hay bale; cat in hand. Two voices were having a conversation; she couldn't understand what they were saying but she could tell they were Chinese. She peaked over the bale just slightly to get a better look. They were smoking cigarettes and the brutish larger one of them seemed angry about something

"Ta ma de wo shengbingle ta de junshi!" he grunted. "Hangleng de nanren" the other replied.

Azusa watched the scene carefully. "Maybe, it will be okay if I show myself" she told the cat very quietly. "The Chinese people I freed yesterday seemed alright so maybe these are to."

"Ni ta ma de si ne!" The large one shouted as he pushed the smaller one

"Ne ta ma de!" the other one punched him back.

Azusa heard a gunshot and then silence. When she next dared to look up the smaller soldier was lying dead on the floor and the larger one was walking away.

"Yi tuo shi" she heard him say.

"Why? I though they were on the same side?" Azusa whimpered as she looked at the corpse "He killed his fellow soldier just because he was angry?

The cat purred by her side.

"Everybody's horrible in this war kitty-san" Azusa said as she grabbed him and hugged him tightly "That farmer, these soldiers, Why do they all have to be so cruel? Why can't they all be nice like my friends are?" She held the cat as tightly as she could "I can't trust anyone anymore, I'm all on my own and I'm going to have to be on my own until I find them, I can't trust people helping me any more."

She gazed up at the ceiling of the barn "I hope the others are having a better time than me, they've got each other at least. I don't have anyone."

* * *

**AN/ My Beta reader is back! Luckily he's not dead he was just doing something. **

**In response to the reviewer last chapter you have a point. Yui may be a little OOC. However It is deliberate what I'm doing with her character and I plan on addressing it in future chapters. She's a lot deeper character than she seems, I'll say that. I will try to tone it down though. I changed the chapter title to avoid getting peoples hopes up. **

**Please review; I know you are probably sick of me saying this but it really is useful. I'm interested in hearing from you and your opinion on this fic as well as what bit's you like and don't like. Any feedback's good really that's all.**


	8. The Commander and the Dissident

**The Commander and the Dissident **

No one spoke as they trudged through the forest. Everyone kept to themselves either out of exhaustion or insecurity. Yui, in particular, fielded the former, gasping heavily as she struggled to keep up with her surprisingly spry band-mates. The others were, however, weighed by something other than physical exhaustion.

Ritsu grimaced as the events of the other night played out in her mind again. Although she had recovered considerably, her body still ached from when she'd been kicked.

Still, she cleared her mind in an attempt to remain focused; not exactly her strong-suit but the circumstances demand a sense of clarity.

Turning to the girls, she curtly said, "Right… so, if we just keep going this way, we should reach the road again."

"Actually Ritsu, I think we're going in circles," Mio said quietly.

"Yeah, I defiantly recognize that tree," Yui added.

"I know what I'm doing," Ritsu snapped. "If we keep going this way we'll get there okay?"

"I'm not sure we will Ritsu, why did you take us through these woods? I thought we were we supposed to be following the roads?" Mio asked.

"This will bring us to the same place anyway," Ritsu grunted. "And I thought it might be better to avoid roads and settlements from now on."

"But why?" Yui asked.

"Last night, that's why."

"I don't think we'd be in any danger on the roads, nobody's out to get us we're just innocent schoolgirls."

"You try telling that to Ritsu," Mio shot back. "Are you okay by the way?"

"I'm fine, it's no big deal drop it already," she replied quickly.

They kept walking, silence, unfortunately enough, filled the air with only the sparse song of local birds to provide release from the awkwardness. It was a full twenty seconds before someone spoke if only to rid of the silence like an annoying insect.

"Well, it's nice to be in the mountains again." Mugi observed candidly. "I like the peace and tranquility."

"Yeah and the nature," Yui agreed. "Do you think we'll meet another bear?"

"I really hope not. Hey Ritsu can we have a break?" Mio called.

"Nope, we need to keep walking," Ritsu said carrying on.

"I'd like a break too. I'm so tired…" Yui moaned to further emphasize her point.

"I wouldn't mind one too for my blisters," Mugi said. The three girls stopped while Ritsu kept on walking; she turned around to gawk at them. "What the hell are all you doing? We need to carry on!" she exclaimed.

"We need a rest," Mio argued. "We've been walking for more than three hours this morning without a break." They'd woken and left early, and only Yui among them had gotten a decent sleep.

"What's your problem? Do you realize we're stopping in the middle of the day? We can't afford to do this!" Ritsu yelled.

"Ritsu can't you see? Everyone's tired; we aren't used to walking for so long." Mio approached Ritsu and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Get off of me!" Ritsu roared pushing her onto the muddy ground.

"Mio-chan!" Yui ran over to help her.

Ritsu paused, grimacing at her outburst. She crouched by Mio, reaching out to help only for the timid girl to recoil slightly at Ritsu's touch. With a guarded expression, Mio looked at Ritsu as if she were a stranger for a brief agonizing moment before letting herself be helped up by her.

"I'm sorry, Mio. I've been stressed out lately, maybe I could use a break as well," Ritsu admitted.

Mio wouldn't meet her eyes but nodded slowly. "Okay, but don't, ah, do that again…"

"Ugh, what's what smell?" Yui complained, scrunching up her nose as she sniffed Mio curiously.

Ritsu sniffed her armpit, frowning quickly after. "I think that's us. None of us have had a shower for ages.**" **She laughed "I just we've had bigger issues than staying clean."

"It's no laughing matter," Mio said examining her uniform which was now a light shade of brown. "Gross, hygiene is important you know, we should all take care to wash or we'll get ill."

"She has a point," Mugi agreed, sniffing her own clothes with the delicacy one might expect from a pampered princess.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure my hair didn't used to have soil in it!" Yui ran her hands through her hair, watching as bits of dirt, twigs, and other assorted things fall out of it.

"Okay then we'll find somewhere to wash and take a break," Ritsu decided.

Soon they found a small mountain stream, gently trickling with clear pure water. After they'd refilled their bottles Mugi splashed some water on her face and immediately felt invigorated. Ritsu had taken off her socks and shoes and was dangling her feet into the water; enjoying the feeling of the stream rushing past them.

"It's actually quite nice here huh." Ritsu realized; the noise of the stream and the birdsong of the nearby trees provided a tranquil atmosphere.

"Yes it is lovely," Mugi agreed.

A few meters away Yui sat on the bank stared intently into the water, Mio sat down next to her.

"What are you looking at Yui?" Mio asked staring into the water next to her.

"Fish." Yui replied still gazing into the eddying water.

"Why do you want…" before she could finish Yui had frantically dove her arm into the water and begun to flail in around wildly creating white foam.

"Watch it Yui!" Mio cried when she got splashed.

"Aw fish-kun got away again!" she complained.

"Yui I'm not sure that's the best way to catch a fish, maybe you could try making a rod or a net." Mio advised.

Yui looked confused. "Eh Mio-chan I'm not trying to catch it I'm trying to play with it."

Ritsu interrupted before Yui could finish,"Hey Mio come over here this place even has its own shower!"

She stood by a considerable waterfall. It didn't look fairly private, standing out at the edge of the clearing with little consideration for shade.

"It looks rather cold," Mio observed as she walked over.

"Well since you were the one who wanted to shower so much I'll let you try it out first," Ritsu offered.

"I can't shower here, with all of you watching me!" Mio protested flushing.

"Mio, it's no big deal it's just us," Ritsu maintained.

Mio shook her head. "I don't want anyone watching."

"Fine, whatever we'll go over here while you shower." Ritsu huffed. "Call us when you're done." Ritsu and the others walked downstream until their view of Mio was hidden behind some trees.

"She doesn't normally mind changing in front of us," Mugi observed.

"Yeah I don't know what her problem is. She can be far too self-conscious sometimes I swear." Ritsu shook her head.

"She has no reason to be, she has a lovely body," Mugi said smiling.

Ritsu glared at her as Yui relaxed by the stream.

"Hey, Ricchan how much more walking are we going to do?" she asked.

"We still have quite a bit more Yui," she answered solemnly.

"Aw… walking sucks Ricchan," Yui said throwing a pebble into the water.

"Well actually I was thinking Yui maybe we don't have to walk. I still haven't given up on getting some transport. The hitchhiking didn't work out but that's dangerous anyway and I doubt public transport is working. But, if we can find some transport of our own then we can do this much faster," Ritsu proposed. "If we had some transport then it would only take a few hours to get home instead of weeks, we'd have to find some first though bicycles would be ideal but maybe we could use a car or a truck. I'd have no idea how to drive it though."

"Or we could try and get a supercar or a hot air balloon!" the failed fisherman suggested.

"Now, you're talking, Yui," Ritsu chuckled.

Mio removed her clothes and neatly folded them into a pile behind a rock. She looked around to make sure nobody was looking before extending her finger into the small waterfall to test the temperature. "Ah!" she winched at the cold water before holding her breath and tiptoeing under the waterfall. A barrage of cold water struck her head and back making her splutter. Quickly she cleaned her hair and other parts that most needed cleaning "I wish I had some shampoo" she pondered. Her wet hair flopped all over her face in a disorderly mess. When she exited her makeshift shower she brushed her hair out of her eyes and looking around. "Ahh!"

"Mio! Did you guys hear that?" Ritsu asked.

"She was probably screaming because of the cold or she found some river barnacles," Yui dismissed.

"Do river barnacles exist? They sound Delicious" Mugi wondered.

A naked Mio ran through camp covering herself as best she could. She ducked behind a tree and crouched down with her arms covering herself.

"Um Mio is something the matter?" Ritsu asked.

"Yes there are people out there; soldiers…" she managed.

Ritsu looked around as several men came out of the bushes, they were surrounded.

"Damn." she fumbled for gun-kun in her pocket not knowing whether they were friend or enemy.

"State your business," one of the soldiers shouted, a tall serious looking man. The flag on his uniform identified him as a member of the imperial Japanese army.**  
**

"We're just passing through," Ritsu replied. "We don't want any trouble."

"Yeah we're on your side," Yui added.

"Why aren't you in one of the shelters?" the leader demanded.

"We got shut out when I was trying to get Gita." Yui did an impression of the door shutting.

"What's a Gita?" a young short soldier wondered.

"Look, we got shut out of our shelter and now we're just trying to get home let us go please?" Ritsu begged.

The leader of the group considered this "Where you girls headed to?"

"Kyoto."

"And how many in your party?"

"There are four of us" Ritsu announced.

"Is there room Private Miki?" the leader asked a pale looking recruit

"Should be," he replied. He turned back to them

"You girls come with us."

"Where are you taking us?" Ritsu asked confused.

"Back to base," he answered. "We'll see what the commander has to say about you, come on."

They began to leave. "Actually can you wait up?" Ritsu asked. "I think one of us still has to get dressed." Behind the tree Mio was still naked and shaking with embarrassment.

After Mio had put her clothes back on the four girls were escorted back to their camp, the distance wasn't that far but the pace was more demanding than they were used to, they seemed much less inclined to listen to Yui's pleas for a break than even Ritsu had. There were five soldiers in the squad at the moment they were told there had been more before losses. They walked in a single file line with the girls in the middle.

"So what's it like being in the army? Yui asked curiously.

"Yui" Ritsu hissed "don't try to small talk with them, you'll only annoy them."

A young soldier near them laughed, "It's alright, we can talk, to be honest this job can be hard at times, but I'm just glad I can be helping my country."

"Uh huh" Yui nodded "I wouldn't like to do it though, it would gets way too scary"

"Yeah that's true" he agreed.

"What my Dad likes about the army is the pride that comes with it, he said that he's never happier than when he's on the battlefield" Ritsu said.

"Your Dad's in the army Ricchan?" Yui asked, surprised.

"Who's dad isn't in the army these day's?" Ritsu said "My father's a bit higher up than most though."

"Oh so he was in the army before the war then?" The solider asked.

"Yeah, he's been in it all his life."

"I'm new" he said "I was a baker before I got drafted."

"We were in a band!" Yui said.

"Hey all of you shut up back there!" the leader barked from the front "You'll alert the enemy."

"Sorry sir," Yui said scared by his loud voice.

"Stuffy jerk" Ritsu grumbled.

Mio did not speak; she merely looked to the ground and blushed red. Mugi went up to her from behind and whispered in her ear ,"Hey Mio."

Mio almost tripped over from the shock. "It's nothing everyone," she said when they looked at her. They carried on walking Mugi was still right behind her.

"Don't scare me like that Mugi, what is it?" the raven haired girl asked.

"Oh do you prefer Chocolate cake or cheesecake?" she asked.

"Chocolate cake, what is this about Mugi?"

"Oh, I was just wondering what sort of cake to do for us when we get back to the club room," she smiled. "And there was one more thing as well, Should we really be going with these people? Do you really trust them?"

Mio hesitated, shocked by the sudden change of tone. "It doesn't really matter what I think, it doesn't look like we have a choice in the matter."

"We're here," the sergeant announced, Mugi and Mio broke up talking. A low lying area between two mountains was a sea of Khaki, there were hundreds of tents between the trees, and a barricaded road ran through the middle of it. A Japanese flag flew over the front of the camp.

"Wow, that's a lot of tents," Ritsu muttered.

"Yep this pass is the easiest way through these mountains, if the Chinese want to go further east they're going to try and go through here, and we're going to stop them," the sergeant explained. **  
**

"Will there be anyone there who can help us get home?" Ritsu inquired.

"That's what we'll find out when we take you to the commander," the sergeant said. "Keep following me."

They were lead through the makeshift camp in the forest, soldiers of all ranks stared at them as they walked past.

"I guess they're not used to seeing girls like us around here," Ritsu figured. "Or girls at all."

Yui waved happily to all the people they past whereas Mio kept her head down and did her best to avoid meeting their prying eyes, Mugi simply looked worried. A large green tent in the center of the area flying the imperial flag marked the command area of the camp, two guards stood outside.

"What's your business with the commander?" one demanded as they approached.

"We've found civilians while patrolling, we wish his orders on what to do with them," the sergeant answered.

"The commander's in a meeting you may not disturb him," the guard replied.

"But what are we supposed to do with the civilians?"

"You could give us food and presents," Yui suggested.

"No, I'll inform him of their presence in the meantime you will take care of them," the guard replied.

"Oh so there will be presents!" Yui's face lit up.

"No, there will be none" the guard said curtly. "If I could have the prisoner's names please."

"Prisoners?" Ritsu questioned.

"You heard him. Give your names" the sergeant commanded.

"Oh I'm Yui Hirasawa I'm sixteen and…"

"Just your names," the guard clarified tiredly.

"Okay I'm Ritsu Tainaka, this girl here is Mio Akiyama and the blonde girl's name is…"

"Sumire Saito," Mugi interrupted. "That's my name." She smiled gracefully as the others stared at her.

"Mugi?" Ritsu questioned.

The guard looked at Mugi doubtfully. "Are you lying?"

"No, Mugi is simply my nickname among my friends," she smiled.

"Alright well you best be going then," he said.

* * *

Azusa woke on the same bed of straw she had gone to sleep on ; she nervously peered over the bale and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized she was alone. Well not quite alone.

"Yui-neko I see you haven't left," she said. The cat had gone to sleep in her arms. After a quick breakfast she prepared to move out cautiously. The black cat followed her.

"No, you can't come with me," she said.

She walked a few more steps and it carried on. "Go away, get back to your owner!" she shouted.

It ignored her and carried on meowing at her feet. She stroked it. "Okay you can come along, I'm glad."

She took a careful look at the horizon from within the horizon "We've got to be careful, we can't take risks," she told him.

Yui-neko meowed in response. "Yeah it's dangerous out there, it sure is, I don't really want to face it," she said. Yui meowed again. "Maybe I need a weapon to defend myself."

Azusa looked around the barn for a weapon; she found a pile of tools in the corner, a pitchfork, a hoe and a small spade. Azusa grabbed the spade. "Might as well go for one I'm familiar with."

Her arms shook as she grabbed it and she began to cry. "I can't do this. What am I doing? I'm in the middle of nowhere trying to find my friends without any help, I have no idea where I'm going, where they are, I'm not even sure if they'll even fit back into the shelter!" She collapsed onto the floor.

The cat snuggled up to her. "I wish the real Yui were here, she'd hug me and ruffle my hair and feed me cakes." Azusa wiped her eyes and stood up. "Look at me I'm talking to a cat on my own, I'm sure my friends would make fun of me if they were here. But there not, the only one I have is you" she ruffled the cat's head. She picked up her spade and tightened her backpack "I can't give up now, not when my friends are still out there. Come on Yui-neko we're going."

* * *

Two simple open air small tents facing opposite to each other housed the squad from earlier, propped up by trees. The squad and the girls sat around the area, on boxes or on the floor. The short one from earlier was entertaining Yui and Ritsu with some card tricks, they gasped as he performing a particularly impressive trick.

"Wow that's amazing how did you get it behind your ear?" Yui asked frantically.

Ritsu wandered over to Mio who was sitting just inside one of the big tents and sat down beside her. "Hey you should check out some of those tricks their pretty impressive."

"Oh no thank you, I'm not really in the mood," she replied.

"What's the matter Mio, you still embarrassed about them seeing you naked earlier?" Ritsu teased.

"No! Well yes maybe a little, it's not what's been bothering me," Mio responded going red when she mentioned that.

"Yeah, it's tough isn't it? I mean stuff like that doesn't seem so much of a problem now," Ritsu observed. "These people risk dying every day, all the things we had to tackle before seem a bit insignificant, like you getting seen naked doesn't seem so bad now."

"Speak for yourself that was humiliating!" Mio replied.

"Okay, okay," Ritsu grinned. "But you get the idea."

"Yeah these people seem so nice and yet they kill on a regular basis." Mio looked over at the smiling short man who was having Yui pick a card. "How many people do you think these guys have killed just this week?"

"They're the enemy Mio you have to remember that, it's for our own safety," Ritsu pointed out.

"I suppose but that wasn't the only thing on my mind, Mugi…" Mio stared at the blond girl eating some soldier's rations happily.

"You want to know why she lied. I do too, I haven't talked to her yet," Ritsu observed.

"Well maybe you should, I'm not sure she's telling us everything."

"Are you saying we can't trust her? Mugi is not a spy, we've known her for years."

"I didn't say that, it's just that she doesn't say much, we don't know what's really on her mind," Mio smiled. "For all we know she could be is avicious and cruel person. She did once steal my strawberry remember? She's prepared to go to any length to get what she wants."

"I guess you're still bitter about that. You don't really think she's evil do you?"

"No, but you should go talk to her already," Mio pushed Ritsu towards Mugi.

The tomboyish girl sauntered towards Mugi and sat down next to her.

"Hello Ritsu these rations are really quite lovely. I love these biscuit browns," Mugi smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sure they are. Well anyway why did you lie about your name back there?" Ritsu asked getting to the point.

Mugi's smile faded. "Ah yes, let's talk about this somewhere more private."

Ritsu followed the blond a few meters away to part of the woods uninterrupted by tents and soldiers, they sat down. Ritsu looked at Mugi. "Well I'm waiting. what is it?"

"It's my parents," the ojousama replied.

"Your parents, the really wealthy ones?" Ritsu inquired.

"Yes them." Mugi nodded.

"Well what about them?"

"My parents are dissidents, enemies of the state."

"What are you talking about Mugi?"

"They've been using their power and influence to provide shelter for enemies of the state and have protested against the governments human rights violations."

"Really? They're traitors! But they seemed so nice when we met them. Does the government know all this?"

"I thought not, they always knew my parents were not friends to the government but they were wealthy and influential so they always left them alone. But now." Mugi looked down in worry. "In the last town we were in, I tried to phone my parents, they didn't pick up. My father always picks up the phone and he has servants twenty four hours a day to notify him if the phone rings, but he didn't pick up, I think that means…" Worry flickered across Mugi's face.

"I'm sure they're fine," Ritsu said unconvincingly.

"That's why I lied about my name, I thought that if they had been captured, the name would draw attention and they might capture me too, or use me as a ransom against my parents," Mugi explained.

Ritsu wasn't used to hearing Mugi speak for so long. "Yeah but you're not actually in with them are you? You don't believe all that stuff do you?"

"Yes in fact I do," Mugi said solemnly. "This war is not for the good of people, Japan does not need an empire, we should let the people in the colonies go free."

"Mugi you're not serious are you? Are you saying that what all these people are fighting for, what my Dad is fighting for is for nothing? This is for the good of the country Mugi!" Ritsu argued.

"We'll see."

The sergeant appeared to them. "You two girls get yourselves together and get over here! Commander Yamano wants to see you now!"

The two of them exchanged a look, rose and returned with the others to walk back to the tent.

"Ritsu, how did it go, what did Mugi say?" Mio bombarded.

"Well at I know least she's not a spy," Ritsu sighed.

"Huh Mugi's a spy!" Yui overheard her face being shocked by the revelation.

"No I said she's not a spy," Ritsu pointed out.

Yui didn't listen. "Mugi-chan do you have any cool gadgets with you?" she asked.

"Yes, my eyebrows are also lock picks," Mugi muttered.

"Oh wow that's so cool!" Yui gasped.

"So do you think this commander guy going to get us home?" Ritsu asked Mio.

"I don't really see what else he could do," Mio replied.

The girls were led inside of the large tent. The inside gave off a professional atmosphere it was easily large enough to stand up in, in the center of the tent was a white table with a map and counters sprawled on it representing troop movements. The commander sat at the table with a smug smile on his face. He was a middle aged man in a generals uniform. He turned around to meet them with a slimy smirk; he examined the girls facing him with the sergeant in front.

"My, my, you girls really are cute," he flicked over them with his eyes. "Tell me why are you here?"

"You called us here," Yui replied cheerfully.

"You know full well that's not what I meant girl, I will not tolerate any witty remarks you may have." He walked over and glared at Yui who backed away from him scared.

"Now tell me why am I being bored by your presence? I am the commander of all the forces stationed here, one of the most ingenious strategists in the Japanese army. I am not a babysitter for four little girls, why are you taking up my precious time?" He demanded.

"Well sir we got shut out our shelter…" Ritsu began nervously.

"Shut out of your shelter? How entertaining! I imagine it must be hard to remember what side of the big metal door you're supposed to be on," he sniped.

"Yes, we were walking through the area when, well actually Mio was having a shower when your troops found us," Ritsu stuttered.

"Don't tell him that!" Mio elbowed Ritsu.

"Yeah that's what happened I don't really know why they didn't just leave us though," she explained.

Commander Yamano looked bored. "For all the girl's obvious stupidity, she raises a good point why did you apprehend them Sergeant Akemi? Explain yourself."

The Sergeant from earlier stood to attention. "Sir we were evacuating civilians out of a hostile filled combat area, sir."

"It's true there were Chinese soldiers back there we saw them," Ritsu added.

The commander glared at her. "Girl don't talk when you're not being spoken too. And you put that down!" He pointed to Yui who was examining one of his map markers with interest. He regained his composure "Putting aside this display of stupidity my point was why should we care what happens to them? If they're going to wonder around a war-zone let them, it's not our business to transport them home, if they're stupid enough to be here let them get shot."

He gave a small laugh and eyed Mio. "Although I admit it would be a shame to lose such beauty to the world." He approached her and she cowered away while Ritsu glared at him.

He smiled as Mio recoiled. "Such charm, such innocence, still I suppose we must get rid of them, let them go free, where you found them."

"Wait!" Ritsu shouted, he turned on her.

"What did I say about speaking out of line girl, huh?" He grabbed her chin by one of his hands yanked it upwards. "Now what was it girl, I suppose you think I should help you, well give me one good reason?"

"My dad," Ritsu spluttered he loosened it.

"Oh what's that about your dad?"

"My names Ritsu Tainaka, my Dad's general Tainaka, help me and you help your boss's daughter."

He let her go with an expression of annoyance on his face. "Very well it may be a pain but I'll do it, Sergeant Akemi take them in the jeep tomorrow back to where they want to go."

"Yes sir," he replied.

The girls glanced at each other in delight. "So you're going to take us home?" Ritsu cheered.

"Yes now that we have orders to," The sergeant replied.

"Does that mean no more walking?" Yui asked.

"Sure does, we're gonna be home a lot sooner than we thought," Ritsu smiled.

"This is great news I can finally sleep in a bed!" Mio beamed.

"Yes fantastic news," Mugi agreed.

The girls prepared to leave the tent. "Wait just a minute," the commander said. He pointed at Mugi. "You stay; I'd like to have a little chat."

Mugi gasped with shock. "Me? What could you possibly want with me?"

The sergeant took the others outside.

"Yes, you come over here." Mugi uncomfortably walked over to him, trying to maintain a calm face before his inquisition. He inspected her closely with contempt in such a way which would make the most self-assured person nervous. "What did you say your name was girl?"

"Sumire Saito, sir," Mugi replied as calmly as she could.

"Saito, eh." He reached out his hand and stroked the bottom of her hair, letting it fall through his hands. Mugi tried hard not to display her obvious discomfort at this lest she face the consequences.

"Blonde hair, not exactly common is it?"

"No, sir," Mugi admitted.

"I suppose that means you have foreign blood in you girl, tell me where your relatives truly Japanese?"

"My mother was from Finland, sir."

"Oh really, do you know the government policy on intermarriage girl?"

"Forced sterilization."

"Quiet justified I think especially looking at you," he smiled. Mugi's serene smile shifted into a spiteful glare for an instant before returning to default.

"Oh, you weren't amused by that were you 'Sumire'," he mocked. "Let me tell you something I can't stand you're kind but there's one thing I hate more: liars." He stared intently at her face but she was careful not to sweat though she was.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mugi said.

"I think you do, 'Sumire'," he said looking her in the eye. "You see..."

The tent entrance flew open and Yui wandered in. "Hi Mugi, Hi commander guy, why are you taking so long? Ricchan and I have found a Frisbee and we didn't want to play without you. Huh commander guy why are you staring at me so grumpily do you want to play to?" Yui tilted her head to the side and looked at them.

The commander looked absolutely dumbstruck. "No I don't want to play Frisbee, I'm interrogating here!" He shouted. "I can't play mind games with 'Sumire' if you interrupt! How did you get in here anyway?"

"Excuse me but it appears that my friend needs me," Mugi said rising to her feet

He was about to protest before realizing something and smiling. "Very well go, get out of my sight, I don't require any more questioning, you've wasted enough of my time already."

Yui turned to Mugi. "Yeah come on Mugi lets play Frisbee!"

"Why that sounds lovely," the blond replied.

As she went the commander called after her, "Oh and 'Sumire' I'll be keeping my eye on you."

The girls found a relatively open space near camp and threw the Frisbee about happily threw it around for a few hours. Gradually the squad from earlier started to join it and it became a full game between them. Even Mio who was not the most athletic person was having fun; it was nice to work off some steam after the stress of the last few days she thought. It subsided when dinner was announced, and they all trudged back to where they had been sitting.

Ritsu approached the sergeant when they walked back. "Hey can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"It's about my Dad, general Tainaka."

"Yes what about him?"

"I don't suppose you've heard any news about him recently, where he's stationed? Is he alright?"

"Last thing I heard he'd been sent back East to help with strategy, a safe position."

"That's a relief," Ritsu smiled.

"Hey, Ricchan, catch!" Yui said throwing the Frisbee at the back of her head; she whirled around in time and caught it.

"Hey Yui we were supposed to have stopped playing this," she argued. Mio was walking nearby nervously looking around; Ritsu felt a mischievous urge coming on. "Here, Mio catch!" She flung it suddenly. It flew through the air and struck the shy girls forehead.

"Wah!" she shouted surprised. "Ow Ritsu that hurt!"

Ritsu gave a big grin. "Pretty good shot don't you think?"

"That's beside the point you shouldn't throw this at me when I'm not looking," Mio protested.

"Aw, did Mio get upset because a Frisbee hit her forehead?" Ritsu teased.

"No, Ritsu! Anyway your foreheads so big I wouldn't even have to aim the Frisbee to hit it!" Mio said with unexpected vitriol.

"Whoa, there's no need to get personal," Ritsu said mock offended. "But seriously you're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine." the two walked for a while.

"It sure will be good to get home tomorrow won't it?" Ritsu asked tiredly.

"Yeah I haven't liked this."

"Some of it's been fun right? The camping, the eating candy, the cards."

"What about all the walking, the hunger, the filth, what happened last night, not so fun."

"Yeah, you're right I'm looking forward to home too, I guess this journey will be a lot shorter than we thought."

* * *

**AN/ I hate that commander guy, I really do. This chapter is mostly set up for the next one in which quite a lot happens. Although I may take a while to publish that one because I have managed to break my laptop. It should be alright when it dries out and cools off though.**

**Answers to reviews **

**Hunter-35: You have a point about that it was a misleading title. I don't think it was actually a very good idea for me to do chapter titles for this anyway, I can never think of any good ones. I normally just make something up the minute before publishing.**

**Yo: I hate war as well, I didn't mean to make you sad BTW, well I sort of did, but I don't want you to get depressed by this, it's just a story and not an especially good one either. I think it's good this is evoking emotion in people though it shows they're engaged with it, if people just don't care about the story or characters then that's the worst. ****Thank you for reading for reading and reviewing this and I live you too.**

**I've decided**** it's better to answer reviews here rather than PMing people because then everybody can read the answer . So if somebody has a question or wants to complain about bad grammar, OOC stupidness, misleading chapter titles, or long pretentious authors notes then I will address it here. **

**Thanks for reading. **


	9. Enemies of Tyranny

**Enemies of tyranny **

It was early the next morning when they were woken from their sleep. The girls had enjoyed a much more comfortable rest than usual in sleeping bags and tents provided by the soldiers.

"Wake up all of you!" the sergeant shouted loudly from outside.

"It's too early," Ritsu protested from the tent.

"I don't know what time you're used to getting up but you're staying with the military now, so you have to follow our rules and that means getting up early!" he shouted back. "So, get a move on."

The group had been allocated a single tent between them; it was comfortable but a little small for their liking. Ritsu unzipped it and crawled out. "They could have let us sleep a little longer," she complained. "It doesn't take that long to drive to Kyoto."

"I'd just like to leave this place as soon as possible," Mugi said as she joined her outside.

"Hey Mio, Yui hurry up in there," Ritsu called hitting on the outside of the tent.

"Okay I'm just getting ready," Mio called back.

"I don't see what you need to get ready; we wear the same clothes every day," Ritsu moaned.

After a few minutes Mio followed them out. "I don't want to look a mess when we arrive back," she said. "Does my hair look okay?"

"Who cares about your hair? We're getting back today, aren't you excited?"

"Yes I am," Mio hesitated. "It will be good to end this journey."

"Anyway, I don't think you of all people should be complaining about your hair, you actually took a shower yesterday, the rest of us weren't so lucky."

She was right, four nights of not sleeping in a proper bed had left their clothes caked in dirt, Ritsu's shoes were brown from mud and her legs were peppered with cuts and bruises from walking through the undergrowth. Ritsu was sure that if she found a mirror she'd be shocked by her appearance.

"Is Yui going to ready any time soon?" Mugi asked, she seemed to have maintained a better appearance than Ritsu, but that didn't say much.

"I'll get her to hurry up," Ritsu said as she disappeared inside the tent, after a few minutes of clattering in the tent Ritsu dragged out a sleeping bag containing a blissfully sleepy Yui. She looked so content that they almost didn't want to wake her.

"Yui it's time to wake up," Mio said nicely.

"Hurry up and wake already so we can have breakfast Yui!" Ritsu shouted not so nicely.

"I don't want to, it's so comfy." Yui snuggled further into the sleeping bag.

"Come on Yui you have to wake up some time," Mio said, gently nudging her.

"Hey Yui, there's some strawberry anpan out here just for you," Ritsu said craftily.

"Really?" Yui unzipped her sleeping bag and looked around excitedly before realizing the truth. "Aw it was just a joke wasn't it?"

"Yep, we don't have any anpan but what we do have is basic rations," Ritsu informed.

After a quick breakfast the sergeant from earlier led them to the vehicle which would take them home.

"It's so great we're going home," Ritsu said happily. "I knew I'd get you all there, didn't I say on the first day we could hitch a ride with someone?"

"You didn't mention how long it would be until we got it," Mio said.

"No, but I knew it would happen," Ritsu cheerfully countered, for the first time since leaving the shelter she began to have faith in what she'd said at the start. "We're all going home."

"How long do you think it will be? I hate long car journeys." **  
**

"We've walked some of the way already so it should only be a couple of hours."

They arrived at the jeep after a short walk; it was a small vehicle with enough seating for five, similar to civilian models they had seen around except painted in camouflage.

Ritsu and Yui climbed in. "Wow it's actually quite spacious in here," Ritsu pointed out.

"It's not as big as the tank," Yui said.

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing," she excused quickly after a glance from Mugi.

"Look, it has a machine gun on the back as well," Ritsu noticed.

"It makes gun-kun look tiny," Yui said in awe.

"I sure hope we won't be using that on the way home," Mio added as she climbed in.

Mugi was the only one left outside, when she tried to climb in one of the soldiers barred her way.

"What's the problem?" Mugi asked smiling.

"You're not coming, commander's order," he said bluntly.

Ritsu's grin faded as she heard that. "Wait, why can't Mugi come?"

"Sorry, the Commander wanted her to stay here, I can't remember what it was about."

Understanding dawned on Mugi. "Oh I had hoped this wouldn't happen."

"We can't leave behind Mugi-chan she's a crucial member of the group!" Yui shouted.

Mugi composed herself and smiled at them. "It's fine, go on without me," she beamed falsely.

"Mugi-chan?" Yui questioned.

"I'll be okay, I'm sure they'll send me on a later jeep, I don't want to slow you down," Mugi told them. "Go without me.

"We can't leave without a member of our group," Ritsu said. "We need to go together."

"I'm sorry but I can't do that" the solider stressed.

"Why not?!" Ritsu exploded.

"Look," the sergeant said "I'm sure the commander just wants a little word with her, then she'll be sent home as well."

Ritsu ground her teeth in frustration as she realized she couldn't win, either she forfeited their transport or let Mugi stay and hope they were telling the truth.

"Okay we'll leave her," she decided, she turned to her abandoned friend. "You'll be okay Mugi, I'm sure you will."

"Goodbye everyone I'll see you when we're home," Mugi said trying to mask the worry consuming her. The jeep door slammed shut and began to drive away. As it left Mugi sure her friends concerned faces looking out at her and wondered if she'd see them again.

* * *

Azusa and her cat had been walking for the best part of the morning when they encountered a barricade in the road. It was a waist high red and white barrier spanning the path. The terrain either side of the path was so steep in was insurmountable creating a natural funnel through the area. Behind the barricade were parked two jeeps further adding to the roadblock next to them were two soldiers.

"Halt this area is out of bounds for civilians!" he shouted as they approached. "Turn back now."

Azusa looked at him tiredly, the past day of travelling had been tough and she didn't know if she was any closer to finding her friends. "Why? Why can't I go through?" she called, her voice was hoarse from not speaking for so long.

"Listen, we have this whole valley blocked off from the Chinese, no one but military personal is allowed through, not even refugees."

"I'm not a refugee I'm looking for some people, my friends."

"I don't care who you're looking for, this area will very soon be a war zone, and it's dangerous for someone like you to go through."

"Oh…" she said morosely, she didn't have the energy to argue with him and honestly she didn't have an argument either. She didn't even know if her friends were through there or not. She was just following the roads guessing they'd gone this way home. She slumped down at the side of the road. The cat she'd named after Yui curled up next to her, it had followed her all the way from the barn and she was glad of it, it was the only company she'd had.

Turning to Yui-neko she said, "What am I supposed to do? I can't carry on walking this way but I don't where else I'm supposed to go. Should I turn back? I could go back to Ui on my own I suppose but I don't even know if I could find the way back now. What if I'm not able to find them because something's happened to them? What if they're dead?" She struggled to say the last word as that horrible thought crossed her mind. A new wave of sadness washed over her as she thought about it, the thought that her mission to bring them back safely may be already over.

"Hey," called out one of the soldiers from the barricade making her look up wildly, she hadn't considered what they might think of her talking to herself.

"What is it?" she croaked. "Am I not allowed to sit here either?"

"It's just your friends, they wouldn't happen to be a friendly brown-haired girl, a girl with a big forehead, a distinguished blonde and a black-haired girl who's far too shy for her own good would they?"

"That's them!" Azusa shouted excitedly, for the first time since discovering their camp there was hope of finding them. "Where did you see them?"

"They came through camp yesterday; nobody could miss them, they stuck out like a strawberry in the snow."

"Can I come through to see them?" she asked.

"Nope," the guard replied.

"But I need to find them to bring them back!"

"Sorry, I can't let you through, ain't much point if you're trying to see them anyway, they left today on one of the jeeps," he replied.

"On one of the jeeps? There's no way I can catch up on foot," Azusa thought aloud.

"Well don't expect us to help you out with a jeep I heard the commander only got them out the way because one of their father's is some big shot, he's not going to waste another one on you," he pointed out.

Azusa turned away from the barricade in disappointment; her excitement from hearing they were okay was marred by the news that they were speeding away from her on a jeep and she had no hope a catching them.

"Maybe there is some way to catch them," she told the cat. "But I'm going to need wheels, big ones."

* * *

Mugi was dragged to the command tent roughly, almost as soon as the jeep had left she'd been grabbed by a solider, she found it to be a most unpleasant experience. When she was pushed through the tent flap it was no surprise to her to see Commander Yamano sitting back in his chair sipping on a come of tea as if he had been awaiting her arrival. Mugi suppressed a scowl as she looked at him.

"Ah there you are if it isn't my good friend Mugi, ah, sorry Sumire," he smiled as her face turned to shock that he knew her identity.

"How did you know?"

"Surprised Miss Kotobuki? You shouldn't be, your special little Frisbee friend flat-out said your name in front of me, twice in fact if you don't remember. How unlucky for you Tsumugi, maybe you should try to get some less idiotic friends, those pitiable girls really don't have a brain-cell between them. Still I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends where you're going."

"Where am I going?" Mugi asked trying to stay calm as she internally panicked.

"Chugoku internment camp," he said reveling in her reaction. "Don't look so down Tsumugi it's a lovely place really, sure you may have heard rumors of 'torture' and forced 'labor' but it's not so bad, sometimes they even give you food."

Mugi gulped, she'd heard of it before from her parents, it was where the government sent its worst traitors and enemies, once someone went in, they were never seen again.

"But I digress," the commander started again taking another drink of his tea. "There was another reason why I suspected you were Tsumugi even before your challenged friend told me. You see you said your name was Sumire Saito."

"Yes," Mugi nodded with a sinking feeling. Sumire had been her childhood friend and servant to the Kotobuki household. Her family had been key members in her parent's organization against the government. Her name had been the first one she'd thought of but now she considered it she realized she'd made a disastrous mistake.

"But I knew that was wrong since I met the real Sumire Saito a few days ago, when I was visiting Chugoku prison."

Mugi gasped and looked at him in anger . "You can't hurt her!"

"Don't worry she'll be fine, she's not lonely in there by any means, your family are there to keep her company. But something's wrong, I have nearly all the Saito's and Kotobuki's in there, all except one," he smiled at her coldly. "So I thought why not complete the set?"

"I haven't broken any laws," Mugi protested. "You can't send me to prison."

"I believe I can, I'm a military commander whereas you are just a pathetic little girl, and I can do whatever I want with you," he grinned as Mugi sank into her seat. She realized what was going to happen to her.

"I see, so I'll be in prison with my parents?"

"Oh I'm not so sure about that, who's to say you will be allowed together? In fact who's to say they're still alive, your father didn't look in a very good shape last time I saw him, blood everywhere."

Mugi considered this, things looked desperate, but she had an idea, something that might just work.

"If I'm going to prison can I ask you for one last thing please?" she said politely.

"Oh and what's that?" he asked bemused

"I'd like a cup of tea please," Mugi smiled.

"Tea?" he scoffed. "Why would I give you that?"

"If you do I'll..." Mugi gulped. "I'll tell you what my parents told me."

"Oh?" This captured his attention. "So, you have information on the traitors, interesting but I could easily get it out of you some other way, I doubt it would take much to get you to squeal."

Mugi wiped sweat from her forehead as her pressed his face closer.

"Still I'm an honorable man I'll hear you out. Someone get this girl a cup of tea," he called outside.

At that moment the solider that had escorted Mugi burst into the tent. "Sir we're under attack, the roadblocks been breached and an unidentified vehicle is heading into camp."

The commander was about to get up before changing his mind. "I'm sure someone will deal with it besides I don't think that has any bearing on your current orders, make me a cup of tea."

"But sir shouldn't you be leading the troops?" he protested.

"Are you questioning my judgment lieutenant? I don't care about the troops I am getting information out of a prisoner and it is not your place to question orders!" he shot him an icy glare. "Do you understand?"

"Yes commander," the officer replied, taking out a tea set.

"Good," he purred. "Now, Mugi what was it you were going to tell me?"

"I've lived a sheltered life sir," Mugi started. "I grew up in a rich home surrounded by servants and I didn't have much experience of the normal world until I started high school. In such a sheltered privileged environment it might have been easy for me to develop the assertion of narcissism and superiority. But my parents taught me differently, they told me that everyone should be treated with dignity and fairness, not to be arrested for no reason. That is the exact opposite of what this regime stands for, oppression and cruelty. That is what you stand for commander-san; you are an arrogant pathetic human and you don't even care about the lives of the soldiers you're supposed to protect," Mugi told him with a gentle smile.

He was shaking with rage as he realized that she wasn't going to tell him her secrets. "Do you have any idea of your position, you little bitch? You are in my custody now and ! Do you really think your little friends can save you now? They can't! They turned their backs on you for their own needs." He spat at her. "You are so low that even those poor excuses for vermin don't want you!"

Mugi was shaking she was trying to be calm but it was difficult, she remembered that her parents had said people like this needed to be stood up to.  
"The tea sir." The officer placed a cup next to Mugi and scurried out of the tent.

She took a sip, it was very hot. "Commander Yamano ever since I started high school my friends have supported me and looked after me. They have been kind and loyal. Which is why I find it difficult to believe that they would truly abandon me so readily like you suggest, with that in mind..."  
Mugi took a sip of tea.

"I would deeply appreciate…"

Another sip.

"… That you would take into consideration"

Sip.

"A simple recommendation of mine."

She put down her tea-cup and looked him right in his flabbergasted eyes, careful to show no fear.

"Don't insult my friends!"

As quickly as she could Mugi flung the remaining scalding tea into the commander's face. He screamed as it hit his eyes. She picked up her chair and swung it at him as hard as she could, sending him tumbling to the floor. The chair broke in half as it impacted, splintering everywhere.

Mugi panted and gave a grin of relief. "I sounded so cool!" she squealed happily. She looked down at the writhing figure on the floor. "I hope he's not too hurt…"

"I'll get you, you little bitch," he managed through the pain.

"Actually I don't." She kicked him once in the stomach and headed out of the tent.

* * *

A deep rumbling noise shook the barricade where the soldiers were stationed.

"Huh what is that?" one of soldiers asked.

"Look over there, is that what I think it is?"

"What the hell?" The soldier recoiled backwards as a large vehicle smashed through their barricade.

One of them went for a radio. "Come in base."

"What is it?"

"The northern barricade has been breached."

"By the Chinese? Are they attacking?"

"No, by a small girl, and she seems to be driving some sort of farming equipment," he replied.

Inside the tractor Azusa was far from composed. "I'm going to find them," she told the cat on the passenger's seat. "Even if I have to steal to do so."  
The tractor roared down the road as Azusa tried her best to keep it in control, her spade she'd taken as a weapon earlier bounced up and down on the floor from the vibrations. She was lucky that she'd watched the farmer driving one, it did give her an idea of the basic controls even if she was too small to use them properly. The tractor had been the first vehicle she'd found when she was looking for something to follow them in. It had been at an edge of a field with the keys in the ignition. It had been perfect, so she had thought, but now doubts were starting to creep back, she couldn't drive, she was just 15, and she was going through a militarized base on a tractor.

The girl timidly turned to the cat. "Back at the club-room I was always the one to point out all the stupid things the other girls did," she gave a timid smile. "I guess now it's my turn to do something stupid." She laughed queasily. "It's funny how things turn out." Despite all her doubts Azusa ploughed forwards into the camp.

* * *

The jeep trundled on with the sergeant driving them.

"So I bet you'll all be glad to be getting home," he said, starting a conversation.

"Yeah, it's going to be super awesome to be back" Yui agreed.

"I'm looking forward to seeing my family again," Mio said. "I just hope they're okay."

Ritsu stared at her feet. "It's not going to be right without Mugi."

"Mugi's coming on the next jeep remember?" Mio reminded.

"No, she's not," Ritsu snapped back. "She's not coming back at all."

"What?"

"You heard me, Back there, what do you think they wanted her for? To make tea for them? NO they're arresting her Mio, and we abandoned her when she needed us."

"What are you talking about Ritsu?" Mio asked.

"Yeah nobody is going to arrest Mugi-chan, she's innocent," Yui said.

Ritsu looked at her friends in despair, they weren't listening. "Driver turn this thing around right now!" she demanded.

"I'm not doing that, my orders are to get you home and that's what I'm going to do," he replied.

"I see," Ritsu replied grumpily. She was supposed to be the leader but she'd left Mugi in danger when she should have been looking after her. She had to do something.

"Do any of you want me to put some music on?" he asked casually "We can turn on the radio if you want?"

"Yes, please it would make it a bit less boring," Yui said.

"Alright what kind of music do you like? Pop? Rock? Jazz?" he reached over to turn the radio on.

Crack!

Ritsu delivered a vicious kick to the back of the driver's seat. The impact sent him sprawling forward onto the steering wheel. The jeep veered out of control and spun to a stop at the side of the road.

After bracing for the impact Ritsu flung the door open and scrambled out. "Come on get out here!"

"Ritsu what the hell are you doing!" Mio screamed in utter confusion.

"We're going back for Mugi, come on!" She sprinted off.

* * *

The tractor hurtled into camp at a high speed, small trees were crushed under it and soldiers had to toss themselves out of the way to avoid falling prey to it.

An injured commander staggered out of his tent and looked in horror at the vehicle ploughing through camp. "What are you doing, shoot the damn thing!" he rasped holding his face.

"But sir there's just a little girl and a cat inside," a solider protested.

"I don't care, get rid of it!"

A single bullet broke through the side window of the tractor as the glass shattered everywhere.

"Ah!" Azusa squealed, shielding herself with her arm. The tractor carried on moving as she could hear gunfire ricochet off the chassis.

"Keep calm Azusa I can do this, I can do this," she told herself as the tractor moved over a hump. "I can do this, it's all for them, I can do this for my friends," she whimpered.

Smash!

Another hail of bullets broke her other windscreen. This time she wasn't quick enough to shield herself. A big bit of glass splintered off it and struck her face, drawing blood.

"Ah!" she squealed in pain taking her eyes off the road to look at her feet.

Azusa felt a jolt of pain as the vehicle crashed into an object bringing it to a jerking stop.

"Ow…" she clutched her face as gunfire carried on around her.

Her faithful cat squealed and let itself out the window.

"No, don't go!" Azusa cried, the cat ran out onto the road in front of her. Just as a large tank was making its way towards her. Azusa winced as the cat got crushed beneath the tracks.

"NO!" she cried desperately as tears began to stream down her face. Her whole body shook as she sobbed, her one hand on the gearbox loosed and she shrunk into herself. That cat had been the one thing she'd had left, her last hope, her only friend.

"No, no…" floods of tears ran down her cheeks as everything that had happened over the last few days bubbled to the surface, the farmer, the incident with the barn, the constant fear and loneliness. "How could this happen? Why can't anything go right for me?"

A solider pointed a rifle through the window. "You identify yourself at once!" he shouted "Who are you?"

"My name is Azusa you bastards!" In a fit of emotion she swung out her spade straight into his face. He was not knocked away.

Sadness turning to anger she reversed away from the tree and accelerated as fast as you could. "I'M NOT LETTING ANY OF YOU BASTARDS GET BETWEEN ME AND MY FRIENDS, NOW GET OUT THE GODDAMN WAY!"

The soldiers in front of her scattered as she floored the tractor forwards.

Straight towards the tank.

"AHHHHHHHHH" she roared as the tractor hit the tank.

There was a crunching sound.

Then everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Azusa is getting a bit crazy, Actually the whole things gets a bit crazy in this chapter, it's quite fast paced compared to the others.**

** Anyway I was wondering how people actually know when this updates because only about five people follow this but every time I update loads of people seem to realize quickly and read it. Well not exactly loads (according to my traffic figures it's about fifty people every chapter)**

**People with out an account may not know this but when you publish a fic on this site you get some nice little bar graphs showing traffic figures at what times and from where. A lot of people from the Philippines read this apparently, well I say a lot it's about twenty people, but they're still the second largest nationality here after Americans. There's also quite a few people reading this from Mexico, France and My country Britain. I think I'm getting a it off topic here.**

**Replies to reviews **

**Yo: It's good to see you're still enjoying it :) Azusa may meet up with the others very soon...**

**Sam Hayne: Thanks for making your presence known! It's nice to know you like it, it's always good to hear from readers. Getting no feedback from a story is awful because you have no idea whether people liked it or hated it. Posting reviews let's the Author know people's opinions on it so it's a good thing to do. If you're knew to reviews don't worry about doing a proper review like a critic, most people just use it for comments and feedback rather than proper reviews. ****It has been a lot of chapters, this is about half way through the story at the moment but ****I guarantee that I will keep updating till I finish (if people still want me to that is.) Thank you for reviewing anyway, it was good to hear from you.**

**Next week on Grave of the turtles: ****Mugi makes a daring escape, **Ritsu runs off away from a jeep, and Azusa looks into some puddles.


	10. The Storm

**The Storm**

It was chaos when Mugi emerged from the tent, in the absence of a commanding officer giving orders the soldiers rushed around in panic in an attempt to try to defend their camp from an unknown enemy. It was lucky for Mugi, since nobody gave her a second look, instead focusing on the immediate threat.

"I really have to get out of here," Mugi said as she took in the events around her. She didn't know what was happening but she knew it meant danger.

Mugi started to run away from the command tent and through the camp opposite to the fleeing soldiers. Behind her she could hear gunshots and somebody shouting. But she didn't want to turn round for fear of detection. This was a struggle, although she was strong, stamina had never been one of Mugi's strongest points and she was already gasping for breath.

A Japanese army tank roared up in front of her. Mugi had to quickly sidestep out of the way to avoid getting crushed, by the sounds of squealing she heard seconds later she guessed some animal hadn't been so lucky. Mugi watched dumbstruck as the tank trundled down the road. She'd been in one earlier but that was nothing to witnessing the sheer might of one on the move. She knew she should move but she was transfixed by it. A sound of a roaring engine drew her stare away as an eighteen thousand pound tractor smashed head first into the aforementioned tank.

"Oh my!" Mugi shouted as the tractor was easily tossed aside by the might of the tank, throwing it upside to the side. The tank rumbled on past as if nothing had happened.

"I hope the driver isn't hurt," Mugi wished as she ran to inspect the wreckage. Her curiosity of an agricultural vehicle driving into a military base overwhelmed her instinct to run.

The tractor was upside down in a pile of broken glass from its windshield. Mugi peered inside to see an unconscious girl laying on the floor.

"Azusa?"

"Hey you get away from that!"

Mugi spotted a small group of soldiers approaching her. She didn't know the standard military punishment for stealing a tractor, breaking into an army camp and crashing into a tank but she didn't want Azusa to find out.

"Azusa wake up!" she said hurriedly as she reached inside the window to nudge her. She didn't respond. "Come on Azusa."

"It's one of the girls from yesterday, you shouldn't still be here!" one of the soldiers shouted at her.

She had no other choice, she had to take Azusa. Mugi leaned in through the window and grabbed her unconscious Kohai, pulling her gently but quickly towards her.

"She's helping the tractor girl! They must be working together!"

Mugi wrenched out Azusa and placed her onto her back with Azusa's arms draped limply around her shoulders. The squad was fast approaching.

She began to run once more with Azusa around her.

"Come back at once!" they shouted giving chase.

Mugi sprinted as fast as she possibly could carrying another person. Luckily Azusa was so small and light it she didn't hamper her too much but her weight still took a toll on Mugi's speed. After a few hundred meters of dashing through the woods they were beginning to break a lead. The soldiers running was hampered by rifles and they didn't want to break a sweat trying to catch two teenage girls.

Quickly she ducked behind a tree to catch her breath. It was a large oak and it was more than wide enough to cover her from view.

"Where did they go?" One of the soldiers asked.

"I don't know they can't have gone far though," another answered.

From the other side of the tree Mugi held her breath.

"We'll never find them out here. They could have gone in any direction, someone else can deal with them," the first soldier said.

"Yeah we're not under orders to do this so there's no point us staying out here to find two stray girls," agreed his partner.

Mugi heard the sound of the two soldiers walking away and breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like we're safe, for now."

* * *

It was raining when Azusa awoke, a light but persistent rain that fell in a rhythmic pattern onto the ground next to her. She was lying face down in a ditch, her head entrenched in the dirt. A small stream of rainwater flowed past her, dampening her even more.

Azusa tiredly pushed her face out of the mud. She couldn't hear anything but the rain; no voices, no gunfire, nothing. Nobody was about.

Azusa let herself go and fell back face first in the sodden ground. "Urgh," she groaned. After a few more tries she levered herself back up again and leaned against the side of the ditch.

She hurt, her face hurt, her legs hurt and her stomach hurt. None of the injuries were that bad on their own but together it made an annoying cocktail of looked up at the sky, it was too overcast to tell what time of day it was but she would have guessed late that it mattered now, her friends were gone so she didn't have to be anywhere to go anytime soon.

Azusa had no idea what had happened to her. The tractor was nowhere near and she didn't seem to be in camp any more. It was as if she had been moved.

"Hello?" she called. "Did someone move me?"

When nobody answered she crawled out of the ditch and sat down on the forest floor. She pulled her jacket up over her head to try to keep out the rain, savoring what little heat it gave her.

"I sure went a bit crazy back there," she reflected. "Is that what I am now? Crazy?"

Nobody gave her an answer.

"I'm talking to myself so…" She gave a small weak smile. "I don't even have that cat to talk to any more, I'm so lonely."

In a nearby puddle she caught a glimpse of her reflection, covered in mud and with a scar from the broken glass on her cheek, she looked little like the girl she used to be, one of her pigtails had come loose leaving half her hair to dangling free.

"I look rough, I hardy recognize myself. I've been trying to find them but maybe I've lost who I am." Sadness rose up in Azusa once more and tears joined the raindrops running down her face. She buried her face in her arm. "I'm never going to find them; I don't know what I'm doing."

"Oh you're awake now, good I've brought berries."

Azusa took her face out of her arm. "Huh?"

Mugi appeared from behind a nearby bush with a gentle smile clutching a handful of berries.

Azusa looked in amazement at her before sighing. "I guess really am going crazy, I'm seeing imaginary Mugis."

"I'm not a dream Azusa," Mugi said taking a seat next to her.

"The real Mugi is on a jeep with Yui and the others and is probably already home now, you can't be the real one" Azusa said jadedly. "I must have hit my head really hard in that tractor; or maybe I haven't even woke up yet."

Mugi hit Azusa on the the top of the head.

"Ow what did you do that for?"

"Just to prove you weren't dreaming" Mugi chuckled.

"You could have pinched me," Azusa grumbled before realizing. "But wait, that means..."

"I'm not imaginary?" Mugi suggested.

"It really is you!" Azusa threw herself at Mugi, full glomp.

"Yes it is me."

"Mugi, Mugi, Mugi, Mugi" Azusa recited happily as she embraced Mugi with all her might.

Mugi hugged back warmly as Azusa nuzzled into her chest. "I'm so glad you're here Mugi, it's been horrible, but now you're here you can make it better" Azusa squeezed her hard and didn't let go.

"I'm pleased to see you as well Azusa, but what on earth are you doing here?" Mugi asked.

"I was trying to reach you, all of you," she sobbed.

"Why? You were safe in the shelter, weren't you?" Mugi questioned.

"I wanted to get you all back safe to the shelter" Azusa explained. "And… and I didn't want to be alone."

"It's okay, Azusa I'm here now."

"But Mugi where are the others?" Azusa looked up at her urgently.

"The others, they all got on a ride back home," Mugi said, she could see Azusa's face fall.

"So I haven't found them then." Azusa realized.

"They're safe, Azusa don't worry," Mugi promised.

"I'm just glad I'm not alone now."

Mugi opened her hands to reveal her berry stash. "Are you hungry? I've been experimenting with different berry recipes lately and I can't wait to show you."

"Is that where you were when I woke? Collecting berries?"

"Yes, we need food, urgently."

"I get that you had to leave me but did you have to leave me in a ditch?"

"It was the best hiding place I could find, if soldiers came they could never see you there," Mugi explained.

"Except if they looked straight into it."

"I think the main thing is we've got food."

"I have some food in my rucksack as well," she looked around. "Where is it?"

"I left it," Mugi admitted. "I didn't have time to pick up you and it both."

"Oh well," Azusa said, she was too happy from meeting Mugi to be overly fussed about it. However, the escalating rain and the oncoming black clouds dampened her mood. The sky was still raining and it looked to be getting worse.

"Well, do you want some berries?" Mugi offered.

"I think we should find some shelter first then consider our options," Azusa proposed.

"Yes, there looks to be a storm brewing," Mugi observed. "We need to find cover."

* * *

Ritsu sprinted through the woods, against the wind and rain, and away from the jeep. It was pouring down, soaking her the minute she stepped out of the jeep.

"Ritsu, wait!" Mio called desperately as she followed, Yui stumbling behind her.

Ritsu stopped suddenly and whipped around. "What! Don't think you're going to try and stop me Mio, I'm going after her!"

"You're being stupid! Get back to the jeep!" Mio shouted back at her.

"No! I'm not going to let Mugi rot in prison cell while we're safe at home!"

"You don't know she's going to prison! They said they just wanted to talk!"

"You're wrong Mio, Mugi's parents are traitors. She holds traitorous view herself, if the army know they're not going to just let her go. We have to do something Mio, we have to act."

Mio considered this as her hair grew even the damper. "Even if what you're saying's true that's no excuse for rash action, maybe we could try and help her from home, if she's innocent we can get her off."

"Are you an idiot Mio? We're not going to have a chance, people the government catch never come out, and this is the only way!" Ritsu hollered. "I'm the leader Mio and I'm not about to let one of my friends be put in danger." **  
**

The two stared at each other as the rain poured down and Yui observed them with concern. "Please, stop fighting guys I'm sure we could help Mugi-chan together."

"Ritsu, if you do this you'll be throwing away our one chance to get home, if you go back and apologizes maybe they'd let you off because of your father," Mio begged.

"That's your best argument Mio? You want us to go home and go to sleep in our beds at night knowing that Mugi won't get the chance to do the same?" Ritsu looked at her in disgust and clutched her gun tightly. "Well I'm not going to let that happen. I'm getting her back."

"But Ritsu…" Mio started.

"You can't stop me Mio, don't even try," Ritsu said, shedding her backpack to save weight and charged out into the rain once more.

"Ritsu…" Mio muttered with desperation as she watched her storm off into the darkness. Mio and Yui stood in the rain, cold and wet.

"What do we do now Mio?" Yui asked.

Mio struggled to find an answer. "I don't think we can go back," she sighed. "Ritsu was the reason we got the lift, without her they don't have any motive to drive us anywhere."

"Achoo!" Yui sneezed. "I don't want to be in out in the rain Mio."

She nodded. "Let's try and make camp, who knows maybe Ritsu will see sense and come back for us."

Mio picked up their rucksack from the floor and dragged it over to a large tree, the canopy provided adequate shelter from the rain. Occasionally the odd raindrop would make its way down through the leaves onto their heads but they were largely protected from the downpour.

The two girls took seats at the base of the tree with Yui resting her head on her friend's shoulders. Mio shivered and clutched her knees.

"We should probably get Ricchan's blanket out," Yui suggested as she started to pull it from the backpack.

"It feels a bit weird using her things when she's away."

"Ricchan wouldn't mind, I'm sure she wouldn't," Yui murmured as she tucked the blanket over her and Mio so it was nice and snug. Rain continue to flow down from the skies, getting louder and heaver.

"That sure is a lot of rain," Yui observed looking out at the downpour outside.

"Yeah, I think there are multiple air fronts moving in from low pressure systems in the North Pacific," Mio guessed.

Yui looked at her in confusion.

"I think there's going to be a storm" Mio said looking out at the rain.

"Ah, I used to like rain but this is way too much," Yui said. "It's nice when I have an umbrella and can splash around in puddles."

"I'm worried what will happen if it gets heavier," Mio agreed "Ritsu's out there..."

Mio contemplated for a moment, grateful for the heat the blanket and Yui's head gave.

"How can she be so stupid Yui? We could have been going home but now we're stuck here in the woods yet again."

"Ricchan was trying to do the right thing."

"I know, I'm concerned about Mugi as well but..."

BOOM!

A sudden clasp of thunder made Mio bolt upright and look around nervously.

"Are you okay Mio-chan?"

"I hate storms" she whimpered as Yui looked at her.

"I don't like them either" Yui agreed. "You sure are scared of a lot of things though Mio."

"Yeah I know, it just puts me on edge, storms are scary." Mio said softly.

"Ha well I guess you've always been a scaredy cat Mio it's just who you are" Yui smiled.

"You're wrong" Mio said. "I wasn't always like this."

"Huh?"

"A long time ago, I didn't used to be scared or shy I was confident," Mio reminisced. "That was before it happened."

"Huh, Mio what happened?" Yui asked curiously.

"Something awful," Mio shuddered. "I've never told anyone this, well apart from Ritsu but she promised to keep it a secret."

"You can tell me, Mio go on."

"Well I wasn't always an only child..."

"You weren't'? Was it a sister or a brother?" Yui interrupted.

"A sister, a little sister in fact, we used to go everywhere together, we were even closer than you and Ui. Of course back then I was the confident one, she'd always be clinging on behind me. I think she used view me as her mature and dependable older sister, how wrong that was," Mio gave a joyless smile.

"Did something happen to her?"

"It was when we were young but I still remember, I was about six or seven and she was about four or five. We were going on a shopping trip with our mother to town. She wanted to buy some things for herself so she gave us some money to go off on our own. I remember she said specifically, 'Mio make sure you look after your sister and don't get separated.' I couldn't do that though. While we were there, there was an explosion in the mall, a bomb attack. People were running, screaming and bleeding everywhere. I was lucky enough to escape uninjured but my sister wasn't. She got trapped injured underneath a collapsed piece of rubble, calling out for help, but I didn't, if I had maybe she would have lived. I was just so scared, more terrified and confused than I ever had been in my life. Overwhelmed by confused and horror at the blood. So I ran, out of the mall and into the street. It was raining that day as well. I found an alleyway and hid inside a trashcan, shivering and scared. It was hours before the police found me, and by then she'd already died. That day still haunts me sometimes, the noise the blood the screams, all of it. I later found out it was an attack by the Chinese liberation front. They caught those responsible and executed them on live T.V, didn't make me feel any better though."

"I'm sorry Mio-chan I didn't know," Yui said miserably. **  
**

"You don't have to feel sorry for me, it's all in the past now," Mio said, but she couldn't disguise the fact she was crying.

Yui comforted her with a hug. **  
**

"Thanks Yui but I'm fine really, after that though I didn't cope very well at all. My confidence vanished, I didn't even go out of my room much after that. I stayed in there with the door locked and the curtains shut. I didn't feel safe anywhere. I'd seen counselors but they weren't helping, my parents were considering more drastic measures. But that's when I met Ritsu. Her confidence and attitude was what helped me get over it. In fact without her I don't think I ever would have recovered but she taught me not to be so scared. After that I was a lot healthier, I started going outside more and making new friends. I never fully regained my confidence though, I'm still scared and I still can't stand blood or loud noises. I'm sorry for telling you that Yui, you really don't need to be hearing this."

"Its fine, it sucks that you had to go through that though," Yui sneezed. "I've never had to go through anything like that."

"Yeah, it certainly wasn't easy for me."

Yui pondered this. "But if that's the reason you're scared all the time what about barnacles? Did you have a traumatic experience with them as well?"

"No, they're just creepy," Mio laughed. Her laugh imminently faded as another loud burst of thunder echoed through the sky. Mio squeaked and retreated from it. The rain was pounding down more than ever.

"Do you think Ritsu's going to be okay out there?" Yui asked. "It's pretty heavy."

"I don't know, Ritsu's strong though she could handle it," Mio said. "But what if she is in trouble out there in a storm without any supplies, she could be hurt."

"Plus she doesn't have any food or a blanket," Yui added. "She's probably really cold and wet."

"I don't think we can let her stay out there on her own Yui," Mio realized suddenly.

"I thought you wanted to stay here?" Yui asked.

Mio stood up dramatically. "I know but if she's in danger then I have to do something for her, I didn't do anything for Mugi and I didn't do anything for my sister but I can do something for her."

"Mio?"

"Yui, Ritsu was always there when I needed her, I can't just abandon her when she needs me." Mio stated solemnly. "Are you with me?"

Yui nodded. "I want to help too, now that Azu-nyan and Mugi are gone but I don't want the group split up any more."

"Excellent," Mio smiled. "I'm glad you're coming, it's going to be scary in the storm but I'm not going to leave her out there now, not when she's helped me in the past."

"Yeah let's do this!" Yui agreed.

Mio looking at the torrential downpour. "My hair to going to get so messed up."

* * *

Ritsu pressed on against the plummeting rain, she was soaked through completely now. Shivering and numb from the cold, she walked onward. "Stupid Mio not coming for Mugi with me." She muttered but she couldn't feel anger, she just felt tired and drained.

"I can make it on my own I just need to…"

Ritsu tripped and fell in a patch of mud. Weakly, she pushed herself up, numb from the cold.

"I've got to keep going," she spluttered as the wind and rain tore against her face. A few more paces and she collapsed back onto her hands and knees. Ritsu was tired now from days of walking and minimal food.

"Come on just a little more," she muttered, she started to lose consciousness.

"Ritsu!" she heard someone shout as a pair of hands picked her up.

"Yui, help me carry her," Mio pleaded with one arm over each of their necks the two girls staggered back with her.

"I'm not going to let fear stop me save someone I care about," Mio whispered. "I'm going to save you Ritsu."

* * *

Eventually they carried Ritsu back to the tree they'd made camp under, they lay her down gently onto the ground.

"I think she's suffering from hypothermia," Mio diagnosed. "We need to warm her up."

"I could try to start a fire," Yui suggested.

"You can try but it will be hard without any dry branches," Mio advised. As Mio removed Ritsu's sodden jacket she gurgled something, Mio took Ritsu's blanket and wrapped it around her to keep her as warm as she could.

"It's good that Ricchan's back with us even if she is all sleepy," Yui yawned.

"She was lucky we were there for her, if not I don't know what would happen," Mio worried.

Yui snuggled up to Ritsu. "Body warmth is the best cure for hypothermia I'll make her nice and warm."

"I'm not sure you should be disturbing her like that Yui," Mio warned.

Yui got off of her and looked up at the sky. "Hey look, Mio the rain stopped."

"Yeah, I suppose it has" Mio happily said. Ritsu was back with her, and when Ritsu was with her she couldn't be afraid any more.

* * *

**A/N: It's only a half reunion in this chapter, sorry if you're disappointed. But at least Azu-nyan is with someone who's not a cat now right? :) Also Mio has a pretty nasty back-story as well, I really have to be nicer to the characters in this, I'll give Mio a puppy or something next chapter to make up for giving her a tragic back-story. Then I'll have it get run over by a tank! Heh heh heh... (sorry to everybody traumatized by that BTW)**

**Anyway I must warn you that it may take a little longer to update over the next chapters because my exams start next week and I have tons**** of work to do :(**

**Replies to reviews **

**Yo: Yo, Yo ****;)** XD Sorry about sort of implying they would meet this chapter ( they kinda did.) Also sorry that this isn't really the most awaited climax you wanted, There's still ages to go till that but quite a lot happens in the meanwhile. Epic and awesomeness levels go down for a bit, then they go way back up again! Anyway thank you for keeping reviewing and being awesome! **  
**

**Sam Hayne: I used to lurk a lot too, I still do actually. There's nothing really wrong with it but I think it's better to get involved. Most people in this fandom are friendly and nice people :D , so you shouldn't be afraid of participating and making your self known. Fandoms can be very fun things, especially when your like me and none of your real life friends like anime :( Anyway if you're starting reading stories in this fandom then there are way better ones than mine out there. Special mentions go to No, thank you and ****The Captain and the Lieutenant (by my beta reader who's a much better writer than me.) -End of review response-**

** InuYashaOuranKyoFan****:** (super long name) Why do you have to bring up the weird bits? ಠ_ಠAnyway( I use the word anyway way to much) it's good to have a new reader most of the people here have been reading it from the start. It's like a cult following on this fic, a small but loyal number of people reading this. Anyway you have the advantage of being able to read nine chapters in a row without waiting, then you catch up and have to wait a week like everyone else. Anyway thanks for reviewing, Favoriting and following :)  


**Anyway ( I'm even starting to annoy myself with how much I use that word now) I'll try to find time in my schedule to get the next chapter posted quickly but I have others things which are more important now.**

**Next time on Grave of the Turtles: They meet up, possibly, maybe, probably, in another ten chapters or so,**** maybe, if I feel like it. I'm kidding BTW they do meet up next time, probably.**


	11. In The Dark

**In The Dark **

It was still raining hard, when Mugi and Azusa spotted a small house in the distance. In their search for shelter they'd come to the outskirts of a town. The darkness brought upon by the storm limited their vision to the point where they could hardly see five feet ahead of them but through the occasional cracks of lightening they could just about see the house ahead of them. This was the first building they'd seen since coming out of the woods and it came as a great relief to the soggy Mugi and Azusa, In the fifteen minutes they'd spent searching for shelter they'd become completely drenched. Azusa's hair hung limply down, her free pigtail clinging to her face from the damp.

"Shelter, Azusa, we can stay here," Mugi said, trying to make her voice heard above the storm. Azusa nodded and silently followed her. She didn't like the idea of trying to find shelter in a stranger's house but she was far too cold and damp to let that stop her. She just wanted to be somewhere warm and safe. The girls staggered forward against the rain till they approached the door. Mugi tried the handle.

"It's unlocked," she said as the door swung open easily.

"Shouldn't we knock first?"

"They probably wouldn't hear over the rain," Mugi rationalized "Let's go in before we get even wetter."

Mugi stepped into the dark house with Azusa reluctantly following close behind her. The lights were off but from what they could see of the front room it looked like a relativity normal house. The floor was wooden and smooth and they could see a coat rack hanging next to the door.

"Hello?" Mugi called out.

There was no reply.

"Anybody there? We'd like some shelter please."

Azusa gripped Mugi's sleeve "Mugi-Sempai, I'm not sure we should be here, it's trespassing."

"It'll be okay, it's dreadful weather outside so I'm sure they'll understand our situation" Mugi answered. The two innocuous trespassers ventured a few steps further across the floor, dripping all over as they did so. Although Azusa had doubts about their actions, the relief of being out of the rain convinced her to press on. She looked into the blackness of the room, she could see little and she started to wonder what sort of things could be out there in the dark.

"We should try to find the light switch," Azusa said abruptly "It's kind of scary in the dark."

Mugi ran her hand along the wall in search of light. After several moments of fumbling in the dark she struck it. Their eyes were struck by the brightness as the lights flickered on. Now the room was fully illuminated, Azusa timidly scanned the environment, half expecting to find a corpse or two lying around. There was no such thing however, from all they could see it appeared to be just an average family home.

"Hello?"Mugi called out again "We just want shelter."

"I don't think anybody's in," Azusa said, on edge, she hadn't wanted to go in here but it seemed safe enough.

Mugi nodded "We should still check the house; I have a bad experience of going into abandoned places."

"Yeah I have too," Azusa agreed, remembering the barn. The two continued into the house warily looking out for any signs of life.

"How about I check upstairs and you check downstairs?" Mugi suggested "It will be much quicker."

"No!" Azusa protested quickly. Mugi glanced at her for an explanation. "I mean, I'd prefer to stick together if that's okay with you."

"That's okay, we can do it together if you want," Mugi agreed.

The house wasn't especially large so it didn't take them that long to search. It was two storied and sported three bedrooms, a kitchen and a warm looking they'd finished searching they ended up near where they'd started.

"It looks empty," Azusa couldn't help feeling relieved, maybe this would turn out to be the refuge she'd been hoping for.

"Excellent it looks like we can stay here," Mugi said happily "I wonder if they have any food?"

Mugi started to wander to the kitchen in search of something to eat. Azusa would have normally stopped her; however justified she thought staying in someone's house for shelter was, stealing was a completely different matter. Despite this Azusa realized that ever since she'd left the shelter she hadn't had enough food in her stomach and she longed for some hot food to nullify her cold and pain.

"Can you see if there's any hot pot? That would be nice," Azusa called.

Mugi examined the ingredients in front of her, there didn't seem to be much food at all in the house but there was still enough for a decent meal. Plus Mugi had seen something that looked very nice in the fridge.

"I don't think there's a hot pot here but there's ingredients for a curry here, do you want me to make one?."

"Yeah that would be nice,"Azusa agreed, curry was nice. It reminded her of a song they'd wrote, curry nochi rice. It seemed like a lifetime ago they'd been playing songs like that back in the club room, even though in reality it was less than a week. Everything felt so different from the way it was, even Mugi seemed different, more aware and more troubled.

She took a seat on the living room couch, this place didn't seem so bad, it felt warm and safe. The last time she'd felt like this was at the farmers place and that hadn't turned out well. Azusa couldn't relax though, for fear of someone bursting into the house at any moment, maybe with a gun, ready to make them pay for trespassing. Never the less Azusa took solace in this brief moment of respite from the pain.

"Azusa they have cakes here! Do you want a chocolate one or a strawberry one?" Mugi said excitedly coming out of the kitchen, livened by the prospect of cake.

"Just how much food do you intend on stealing!?" There was a fine line between taking what you needed to survive and eating other peoples cakes.

"There's plenty here Azusa, we'll simply take what we need" Mugi said with a smile

"Try not to steal too much. Hopefully the rain will stop before they get back and they'll never know we've been here."

Slam!

Just as she said that Azusa heard the sound of the door being opened and footsteps coming in. Azusa's heart sank as she realized that staying here and eating cake may no longer be a possibility.

"Mugi, there's someone coming in!" Azusa panicked.

"Yes I heard," Mugi nodded, completely calm.

"Huh? I forgot to lock the door, I'm so forgetful" They could hear a women's voice entering the door.

Azusa turned to Mugi frantically and squeaked "We need to hide!"

"We could try explaining to them why we're here."

"Are you crazy? We'll be handed to the police!" Azusa grabbed Mugi and tugged her further into the house. They could hear footsteps coming down the corridor as they darted into the kitchen. She frantically looked around for any place to hide.

"We could hide in the cupboards?" Mugi suggested.

"They're too small! Even for me, come on we have to do something!"

"The oven then," Mugi suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Azusa shouted "We'll get baked alive!"

They could hear a child's voice talking in the other room "Mummy why are all the lights on?"

"I don't know dear maybe we must have left them on, or maybe somebody's here."

They could here the two of them moving to the kitchen.

"Ah we have to get out of here!" Azusa said pulling an unfazed Mugi out of the room.

"Oh look there's banana cake here too," she spotted "Looks lovely."

"Now is not the time!" Azusa exclaimed they sped into the lounge.

"I thought I just heard something," The woman said.

"Are there any ghosts in here mum?"

"They're on to us!" Azusa panicked considering her options.

"No I think there's somebody in the house," the mother replied.

"Is it a burglar?"

"I don't know, you stay here I'll have a look." The women plodded into the lounge where Azusa and Mugi were.

"Ah" Azusa shrieked. Quickly she dove under the nearest place she could find, a Kotatsu. Mugi pulled a curtain over herself.

From beneath the heated table Azusa could hear the women walk past.

"Hello is anyone there?"

Azusa's heart raced as she listened for any sound of discovery. There was none, maybe she would never look down here and Azusa would have to stay under the Kotatsu for days, eating dropped foot on the floor and dodging people's legs. Her dreams were broken by a feeling in her nose, she sniffed and tried her best to hold it in but she couldn't.

"Achoo!" she released in a high pitched voice.

"Huh" the women heard the sound.

_Oh no I'm done for this is over_ Azusa thought as she walked closer.

She lifted the blanket.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't hurt me!" she cowered.

"What? Who are you?" The women asked in shock. She was in her thirties, dark-haired and kindly looking.

Mugi released her self from the tangling of the curtains and stepped forward, prompting another look of astonishment as the women realized there were two of them "I'm Tsumugi and this is my friend Azusa, we were in need of shelter from this awful storm so we took refuge in your home, we sincerely apologize."

They both waited for the woman's reaction, _we're going to be arrested I knew it _Azusa winced, she'd be stupid to follow Mugi in here.

"Oh I suppose that's fine," the women smiled.

"Huh?" Azusa said surprised "You mean you're not going to hurt us?"

"Of course not, it really is dreadful weather," the women smiled "you didn't have to run and hide though I'm friendly."

"Oh right sorry"

A small boy appeared in the room, he was brown-haired and he looked young, around five or six and was pale as well, almost sickly looking."Huh Mum who are these people?"

"They're just visitors."

"Um hi," Azusa said to the little boy awkwardly.

The boy stared at her angrily, he didn't seem to happy that there were strange people in his house even if his mother was being welcoming.

"I don't think he likes me," Azusa whispered to Mugi.

"I don't like her!" The boy pointed at Azusa "she has stupid hair and her friend had weird eyebrows."

"Hey there's no need to insult me!" Azusa cried indignantly.

The boy scowled at them some more.

"My...My... eyebrows?" Mugi looked close to tears.

"Oh don't mind Akio, he's just grumpy because he hasn't had his dinner yet" The woman laughed "Come on I'll make us all something nice."

* * *

Mio's face was the first thing Ritsu saw when she woke up. She was right above her staring down with a concerned expression on her face. It took her a few minutes to piece together her last waking memories but she realized what had happened. She'd gone storming off to try and find Mugi but she'd failed and Mio had rescued her. Her relief at being safe and rescued was countered by the fact she was now in Mio's debt and would have to apologize.

She sat up and stretched, choosing to ignore her expected apology, "Wow that was a nice sleep, I feel totally refreshed."

"You're awake Ricchan! Great news!" Yui said bouncing towards her.

"Yep I sure am, anyone got any breakfast?"

"Ahem," Mio coughed "Don't you have somebody you should be thanking?"

"No I don't think so, did Yui do something for me?"

"No, you know what I mean." Mio stared at her icily, obviously not having forgiven her for running off and sacrificing they're way home.

"Fine" Ritsu said grudgingly "Thank you for saving me Mio."

Mio smiled at her and she tried to smile back. Ritsu really did appreciate her helping her even if it was hard to admit.

"I helped as well" Yui added.

"Thanks to both of you," Ritsu said "you know now that I think about it running off into a storm without a plan may not have been the smartest idea."

"Really Ritsu? How did you come to that conclusion?"

She ignored Mio's sarcastic jab and carried on "We're still going to get Mugi back though. I'm not compromising on that, we can't leave a member of our group behind, even if we have no idea how to get her back."

"I agree on that," Mio said "We'll still be going home, but this time we're getting Mugi first."

"Right, where's that breakfast?" Ritsu said looking around urgently.

"We haven't had time to make any Ricchan we've been to busy taking care of you," Yui answered "You were all cold and you looking kind of dead."

Ritsu was touched by her friends care of her, "Well thanks, to be honest I'm surprised Mio went out out into the storm what with you being scared because of you know..."

"I told her about that Ritsu," Mio answered sincerely.

"You told her? Why? You'll give her nightmares with that stuff."

"It's alright I can handle it," Yui spoke up "You don't need to patronize me Ricchan."

"Yeah I guess you can," Ritsu admitted "we're all in the same situation now so I guess there's no need to sugarcoat things." Ritsu rummaged through her bag in search of food "There's not very much in here are we running low on food?"

"Yeah, we don't have much left at all just some melon bread," Mio said.

"I think that needs to be one of our objectives, to get some food. I say we find some kind of settlement and town and try and get some food off them. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Mio added "Except we don't have any money."

"Oh," Ritsu considered the setback "Maybe we can get it some other way then like stealing or begging. We'll think of something. Anyway going to a town will also help our primary objective, finding Mugi."

"I thought going home was our primary objective?"Mio added.

"Not at the moment, we can't attack the base head on right? That's stupid, so I say we find a branch of the military in the town and try to appeal to them to get her released. I can use my Dad's influence to get her out, it worked before right?"

"But Ritsu they probably aren't going to believe that you're his daughter, you don't have any proof, you might as well say you're the emperors daughter for all the evidence you have," Mio countered.

"Yeah I suppose that's true." Ritsu considered this as she looked for the little food they had "We can still protest though can't we? I mean Mugi's innocent right? I know that commander is an ass but most of the military are good people, they won't let Mugi be imprisoned will they?"

"I don't know," Mio answered "But short of breaking her out ourselves I don't think we have must of a choice."

"Or we could do a save Mugi awareness concert," Yui brainstormed "Oh but we'd need out instruments for that though."

"Maybe if we really have no other ideas Yui," Ritsu said as she finally found a melon bread in the bag "Anyway we've been putting off breakfast for way to long let's eat!"

* * *

"This food is delicious," Mugi complimented as she took a large bite from her plate.

"Thank you, it's not easy to get good food at the moment with the rationing," The woman said.

"I'm so sorry we were about to steal from you, but your cakes did look very lovely" Mugi beamed.

"Don't tell her we were about to steal!" Azusa shouted, not wanting to sacrifice their comfortable position.

"It's quite alright, you both do look very hungry, feel free to enjoy the food."

Azusa feasted happily on the beef hot pot, after a few days of living off what she stole from the shelter, it tasted heavenly.

"Excuse me what did you say you're name was?" Mugi asked.

"Oh I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself I'm Otae and this is my son Akio," she smiled.

"Nice to meet you," Mugi said courteously.

"If you don't mind me asking what were you to doing outside in the rain on your own?"

Azusa looked at Mugi, it was a good question "We were trying to find our friends," Azusa started.

"No, We were trying to get home," Mugi corrected "That is where are friends are Azusa."

"I see, well I wish you luck, I wouldn't have normally gone out in the rain but I was at work with my son. Now that my husbands away in the army I have to work full time to get enough money. Especially now Akio is sick I have to work extra hard to support him."

"Huh He's sick?" Azusa looked over at the annoying kid playing with his food.

"He has a rare bone disease," Otae said frankly "It's gradually eating away at his marrow, soon he won't even be able to walk without his bones splitting and fracturing with every step."

"That sounds terrible" Mugi said.

"Yes, when it gets worse like that I won't be able to go to work any more I'll have to look after him full time, without a source of income I don't know what will happen."

"I'm so sorry it must be hard on you," Mugi said finishing her plate.

"I manage," Otae took a quick look out the window "It looks like it's still raining out there, do you two want to stay here for the night?"

"Are you sure?" Mugi asked "We've troubled you a lot already."

"It's quite alright really."

"We'd love to stay," Azusa said jumping at the chance.

"Excellent, well I'll show you to your room."

They were escorted up to the spare bedroom, it was small compared to their rooms at home, especially Mugi's, but after sleeping on the ground they would have accepted any bed. Since there was only one, Azusa was provided a futon on the floor. She didn't mind Mugi getting the bed, sleeping in a futon was fine for her.

A few hours later the lights blinked out.

"What do you think that was Mugi?"Azusa asked hurriedly as the house faded to blackness.

"It's just a power cut Azusa, nothing to worry about."

This wasn't exactly a new occurrence for them, in the few months before they left for the shelter they had happened with increased regularity, Azusa remembered being told in school that it was something to do with the inability to import coal from China, but she didn't understand the precise details.

It was a warm night compared to previous ones, with the humidity left by the storm making sleeping uncomfortable for both of them. Out of the open window was pitch black, but calm with no wind to bother them.

The only noise was a the faint sound of planes flying in the distance and the quiet explosions when they delivered their payloads.

"Bombs," Azusa said as she looked out.

"Do they bother you?" Mugi asked.

"A bit," Azusa admitted, after hearing them nearly every night for a week she'd gotten used to them, a dizzying reminder of the situation every night before sleep. She was safe though, the lack of light did have the advantage of hiding their location, Yui, Mio and Ritsu didn't have that degree of safety.

"Hey Mugi."

"Yeah."

"What are we going to do now? I mean where do we go from here?"

"I suppose we keep going home and meet up with the others."

"Don't you want to go back to the shelter? It'll be safe there."

"I didn't realize it was possible to go back."

"Yeah, there's a ventilation shaft Mugi-Sempai, that's how I got out, " Azusa told her "it was hard though, I had to squeeze through some parts and I only made it because I'm small, I don't know if you'd fit."

"Are you saying I'm too large to fit through?" After having her eyebrows insulted earlier Mugi was in no mood to be called fat.

"No not at all, but it will be difficult getting back" Azusa realized.

"I think we'd be better off getting home with the others," Mugi considered.

"Maybe, but we're not safe there Mugi, the bombs may hit. We're hardly any safer at home that we are here."

"We'll be with the others though, isn't that better?"

"I guess, I wonder what everyone back at the shelter thinks about this, I've been gone for a long time now. Ui must be getting worried, I wonder if she thinks I'm dead?" Azusa suddenly felt a pang of regret for leaving the shelter and her safety, everything had gone wrong since then. Maybe she was wrong to have left? Her whole reason for leaving was to protect them but if Yui and the others were already safe at home then there was no point.

"Are you alright Azusa?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Azusa considered "Do you ever do make decisions you regret Mugi-Sempai?"

"Yes a lot, I often make decisions I wish I hadn't or do things I wish I hadn't done" Mugi thought back to the tank and the shell "Sometimes people can get hurt by those decisions as well. Every decision has consequences Azusa, even if you don't see them but I don't think you should dwell too hard on you're mistakes, you can't change the past after all. I think the important thing to do is to focus on dealing with those consequences and making better decisions next time."

"I guess," Azusa considered and looked across at Mugi, even though they were together now she still felt lonely. She couldn't even see her through the darkness and even though she was safe she had no doubt that the nightmares that had plagued her dreams every night would return.

"Mugi do you mind if I sleep with you?"

"My this is very sudden," Mugi chuckled.

"No I just mean it's just I've been having nightmares and I would um..."

"You'd feel safer in my bed?"

"Yes please."

Mugi lifted the covers and Azusa snuggled in next to her.

* * *

Yui, Ritsu and Mio walked into the center of a small town. Despite it not being large there were plenty of shops lining the streets and only about half were boarded up. It would have been a good place to stock up on supplies and food but unfortunately for them, they had no money.

"So are we going to find Mugi here?" Yui asked.

"No, but we can probably find some way to get to her. There's bound to be an army base in this town we'll use that" Ritsu answered as they pushed past some people. Unlike the previous town they'd visited this one was far from deserted, the streets bustled with people going about there business.

"There sure are a lot of people here," Yui noticed "Maybe they could help us."

"I wouldn't bet on it, they've probably got there owns worry's, they won't help us," Ritsu said cynically.

"Can you see any food Ritsu? We used nearly all of it for breakfast," Mio urged.

"I'm looking, I can't see anything we can use though."

As they walked by looking for any signs of Mugi or the army Yui spotted something.

"Hey look guys a picture of Mugi-chan!"

"Huh?" Mio said.

Pinned against a wall was indeed a hand drawn picture of Mugi, some of the features were a bit off but it was defiantly her.

"Give that here!" Ritsu said, grabbing it "this is a wanted poster Yui!"

"What does it say?" Mio asked quickly.

"Hold on I'm reading it." Ritsu quickly scanned the paper.

_"The dangerous dissident Tsumugi Kotobuki is loose in the area, if you see this criminal please report your sighting to the police. A reward of 500,000 yen will be given to anybody who apprehends her."_

"Whoa that's a lot of money," Yui gasped.

"Is that all it says?" Mio asked swiping it

"Wait there's a little more, A_lso wanted is a small black-haired schoolgirl possibly driving a tractor_, who could that be referring to?"

"Have you been having secret fun with a tractor Mio?" Yui asked happily.

A loud voice distracted them from the poster, it was coming from a behind a crowd of people down the street.

"Rations! Get you're rations here, come on one at a time, get them all."

Yui looked at the ration stall in delight "Ricchan there's food there and they're giving it out for free!"

"Great we're not going to be hungry anymore!" Ritsu exclaimed dashing off to get food "Come on Mio let's go."

When they rushed over to the ration stand they were disappointed to see a huge line awaiting them, they could hardly see over the mass of people.

"Aw we're going to have to wait," Yui complained.

"It will be worth it Yui, maybe they'll even give us extra because we're traveling, or maybe I can use my dad again."

Eventually the crowd dissipated some what and they could see to the front, three workers were handing out rice and other essentials from large brown sacks. The food looked far from luxurious but very editable. They were almost at the front of the queue apart from a dark haired women in her thirties who was trying to get extra food because her son was sick. "One bag for one person" the worker kept saying.

"Come on lady hurry up," Ritsu grumbled quietly. Eventually she gave up and they stepped up to the front.

"Hello give us three sets of rations please," Ritsu said.

"Who are you?" The man at the counter demanded, he was large and bulky but slightly too old for the army.

"I'm Ritsu and this is my friends Yui and Mio, can we have some food please?"

"You haven't been here before have you?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"Uh No we just got into town, can we get some food though?"

"If you're not from around here I'm not serving you," he said stubbornly glaring at them.

"Why the hell not? We're hungry here!" Ritsu slammed her fist on the counter.

"Ritsu lets not attract attention," Mio warned.

"Listen we have enough food here for everyone in this town, not more, we can't afford to start giving it to outsiders" he warned.

"But you have to serve us," Ritsu says "Do you know who my Dad is?"

"I don't care, next"" he called.

"But..."

"Go now or I'll have you removed."

Ritsu was about to argue again but Mio held her back "He's not serving us Ritsu, and I don't think there's anything else we can do."

They trudged away in disheartened spirits "Where are we going to get food now Ricchan?"

"I don't know Yui."

As they walked away they spotted a solider handing out Mugi leaflets, he was talking to the women from earlier.

"That's the guy who put up the Mugi thing," Yui spotted.

"Oh this guy, we can get some answers off him," Ritsu said.

"Ritsu please don't cause any more of a scene," Mio warned.

"Hey what's the deal with all the leaflets?!" Ritsu called at him.

He looked taken aback "Well there's a dangerous criminal in the area and we're looking for her."

"Mugi? I thought you had her?"

"How would you know?" He looked confused.

"Uh I mean she doesn't look much like a criminal, why are you searching for her?" Ritsu pointed at the picture.

"Yeah she doesn't look like she'd hurt anyone" Yui agreed "Not that we'd know because we've never met her ever."

"Look, I don't know what she did but it's bound to be bad if the commander is setting up all this searching for her," he said.

"So you don't know where she is at all?"

"Only that she's in the area."

"Alright, well we'll um keep an eye out for her," Ritsu said "If we see her we'll hand her in."

"Oh do you want a poster?" he asked.

"Yes please," said Yui taking three, she reasoned that the more she took the less anti Mugi posters would be out there and hence Mugi awareness would be decreased. She liked to help in little ways.

Once he was out of sight Ritsu turned to the others "Okay the good news is that Mugi seems to have escaped, the bad news is that she has a full scale search going on for her."

"They said she was still in the area so she can't have gotten far," Mio reasoned.

"Yeah we just have to find her before they do."

* * *

Meanwhile Azusa and Mugi were trying desperately to keep a five year old amused.

"Um look at this," Azusa said "When I shake my head my pigtails go spinning everywhere and it looks cool."

"That's stupid," he said jadedly.

"Hey, that's my best trick!" Azusa exclaimed.

"Let me try," Mugi volunteered putting one hand on her head and the other underneath her chin then puffing out her face "Look I'm a sunfish."

Akio stared for a minute before laughing "You're funny Mugi-san."

"How come he likes you so much and not me?" Azusa asked, though she had to admit Mugi's gentle nature made her much better with children than she was.

They heard the door slam again as his mother re entered the house, thankfully for Azusa this meant no more looking after Akio.

"I'm back," Otae called as she entered the house "Thank you for looking after him while I went shopping."

"It's fine I quite enjoyed it," Mugi said.

"How can you say that? It was awful Mugi-Sempai."

"Well we should be leaving," Mugi started "Thank you very much for letting us stay here Otae-san."

A brief look of panic swept Otae-san's face "No you should stay, please stay."

"Huh? Why do we need to stay?" Azusa asked.

"Um where was it you said you were going?"

"Kyoto."

"Kyoto yes of course well my friend is from Kyoto and she may be able to get you there."

"Really You'll be able to get us home?"

"Of course, if you wait until tomorrow that is."

Mugi and Azusa looked at each other in delight and jumped up and down.

"It looks like we're going home Azusa."

"Yeah and at home I'll finally get to be reunited with the others again," Azusa said happily.

* * *

It was getting dark quickly for Ritsu and her group, they'd spent the best part of the day searching the town and surrounding area for Mugi but to no avail. Worst of all they were still hungry and they hadn't been able to find any food. They were back near the ration stall where they started, Ritsu eyed it keenly.

"They said they only had enough for people of this town but look they've got some left over," Ritsu noticed "I'm sure nobody would mind if we took a little bit."

"Ritsu I really don't think this is a good idea," Mio warned.

"Of course it is, we need food don't we? I don't care is we have to steal it, I'm not going to let us all starve."

The workers there were packing up and preparing to leave, Ritsu hoped there would still be some left over food for them to eat.

"He was really rude earlier so now we can get back at him by stealing his food!" Yui said "this is going to be delicious."

"We're going to have to be stealthy Yui, we can't make any loud noises" Ritsu warned "look there going now's our chance!" The workers left their stations and got into a nearby truck leaving the sacks after them.

"Mio you stay here and look out for anybody, me and Yui will get some and put it into my bag." Ritsu said, she took a quick look around, the street was deserted "Make a hand signal if someone comes."

"Okay got it," Mio agreed.

"Come on Yui lets move out," Mio said.

"Aye Aye" Yui agreed as she crouched and they slowly made there way over to the stall.

Mio looked at them in despair as they sneaked around in the most conspicuous way possible.

When no one was looking Ritsu vaulted the counter clumsily and helped Yui across as she did the same.

"This is so exiting Ricchan it's like we're bank robbers!"

"We're only doing this because we have to Yui, we shouldn't make a habit out of stealing" Ritsu told her as she tugged open a sack. To her delight she found there was still a bit of rice left in it "Look this is plenty, if we take all this we'll have enough for days, maybe until we get home."

"Yeah there doesn't seem to be anyone looking we can take it."

"Okay Yui take out some of this rice and put it in my bag while I hold this sack open."

"What? just put it in the bag without any container? That's doesn't sound very good."

"Just do it quickly!" Ritsu said, Yui started to pick up handfuls of rice from the sack ad started putting it into the bag. Mio watched them, wishing they had a better way of doing this, when she spotted some people coming.

"Ritsu, Yui," She whispered to them "get out of there!"

They weren't listened, they were too busy with their rice.

Mio tried doing a hand signal but they weren't looking.

A squadron of soldiers ran past them down the street.

"Yui get down!" Ritsu and Yui went to the floor as they passed.

There were about half a dozen in total, rushing towards somewhere. They could hear one on the radio "The fugitives been spotted we're moving in to capture her now over." When they'd run passed Mio rushed over to them.

"Hey did you here that?" Mio asked "It sounds like they've found Mugi."

Ritsu grimaced "If we let them get her then we can say goodbye to going home together."

"What are we supposed to do then?"

"Well we have to get her before they do, come on," Ritsu said sprinting in the direction the soldiers were going.

"But the rice..." Yui said behind her.

"That can wait; we've got a fugitive to find."

* * *

Azusa sat at the dinner table with Mugi, Otae and Akio. Otae seemed more restless and kept glancing at her cell phone as if she was waiting for a signal. The day had been spent uneventfully watching television and helping round the house. It was almost like being at home.

"How exactly is you're friend going to get us home?" Azusa asked "does she have a car or train tickets?"

"Um I'm not quite sure," she answered "You'll see if you wait a little longer."

Azusa watched Akio spill food down himself while staring angrily at her.

"If you don't mind me asking, why's he not in a shelter?" She asked "You could have probably got in too as his mother."

"Oh," she seemed taken aback by his question "We tried but it was his disease, because of that they wouldn't let us in. There's not enough room for every one you see so they prioritized the healthy children it's okay though he..."

"TSUMUGI KOTOBUKI AND ASSOCIATE WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED COME OUT NOW AND YOU WON'T BE HARMED!"

They could here someone shouting from the door.

"Wait what is this?" Azusa looked around to see Otae not surprised at all.

"I'm sorry girls, you seem like lovely people but I have to do this for Akio."

"You're handing us to the army!?" Azusa said in shock, she hadn't expected this.

"Yes, I saw the poster, you're wanted for crimes against the military, I need the reward money to look after my son."

"So you sold us out!" Azusa looked hurt at the betrayal.

"Please don't make this difficult, just go with them."

"There's no way we can just surrender we need to get back!" Azusa's eyes were crazy as she panicked " Mugi what do we do? What do we do!?

"I'm thinking," Mugi contemplated.

"COME OUT IN THIRTY SECONDS OR WE'LL BREAK THE DOOR DOWN!"

"Please," Otae begged them "Do this the easy way."

"No we can't," Azusa said.

"TWENTY SECONDS"

They looked around desperately for some way out of the situation .

"TEN SECONDS"

"We've got to find some way to do this"

"FIVE SECONDS."

The house snapped to darkness suddenly as the lights flickered out. They could here the sound of the door being broken in.

"A power cut?" Azusa whispered to Mugi

"Don't talk," she whispered back.

They both dropped to the floor. They were in the pitch black darkness and out there was an unknown amount of armed men. All they could hear creaking of floorboards somewhere ahead of them but that was all. They had a chance now, if they could just avoid being spotted and exit the door they might be able to escape.

"Where are they?" They heard a solider say.

Mugi gently reached for Azusa's hand and grabbed it. Crawling, she led Azusa across the floor towards where she thought the exit was.

. They stopped as they heard somebody ascend the stairs "I think they're up here."

They carried on when they had left; Mugi rose slightly to crouching height and slowly made her away through the darkness using her hands to feel the way. Footsteps appeared next to them again and they stopped and went to the floor. Azusa flinched as a foot trod on her.

"Huh what is this?"

Azusa was careful not to let out any noise when he kicked her to see if there was a reaction.

"I guess it's nothing."

_That was a close one _Azusa thought as Mugi encouraged her on once more. They carried on to what Azusa guessed was the kitchen. If this was right then they were close to the door and freedom.

As quietly as she could Mugi reached into one of the drawers.

"What are you doing?"

After rummaging around she drew out a rolling-pin.

"Protection."

Azusa nodded silently. They padded across the kitchen floor as one of the doors open. One of them was in the room, they couldn't see him but they could hear his footsteps. The too of them held their breath and stayed exactly where they were. Azusa tried her best not to make any noise but she had a funny feeling in her nose. No, no not now she thought. As hard as she tried to resist she couldn't, it was going to overwhelm her.

"Achoo,"

The solider turned to her in an instant "There you are, I've got you now!"

Mugi's reaction was almost instantaneous; she sprung up rolling pin in hand and swung at the solider, sending him flying backwards.

"OOf" he shouted as he was sent to the floor in pain.

"Now they all know where we are!" Azusa screamed.

"Yes we need to get out of here quick," Mugi agreed dashing towards the door. Azusa darted off in the opposite direction, running anyway she could.

* * *

"Mugi? Are you there?" Ritsu called into the dark, as soon as the soldiers had breached the door she'd run in after them. Mio and Yui followed closely behind her. Mio was terrified "You know Ritsu I really don't think this was a good idea."

A figure ran past Ritsu "Hey who is that?"

"Come on Azusa let's go!"

"Mugi? Azu-nyan? Are you guys in here!?" Yui said excitedly.

"Yui? What are you doing here?" Mugi gasped "You're supposed to be at home."

Ritsu grabbed Mugi's hand "You didn't think we'd go home without our full line up did you? Let's go!"

A spray of bullets rattled the room.

"They're shooting now!" Mio squeaked "We really have to get out of here."

"Fine we've got Mugi let's go," Ritsu ordered "everyone make you're way out."

"Wait! Azusa is still here somewhere," Mugi said.

"Mugi, Azusa's still at the shelter let's go," Ritsu ordered.

"No she escaped and she's in danger!"

Ritsu stared at where her voice was coming from for a moment, taking in the information "Fine Yui get Mugi and Mio out of here, I'll get Azusa!"

* * *

It was so warm under to the Kotatsu, even though the blackout meant it wasn't on. Azusa felt safer it then she had any right too, She just had to make sure she didn't sneeze again.

Somebody lifted the flap.

Azusa almost screamed.

"Shh it's me, Ritsu I'm here to save you."

"Ritsu-Sempai?" Azusa said in shock before being quieted once more.

"Come on I think it's safe" Ritsu said emerging from the Kotatsu.

As she said that someone grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, sending her gun flying.

"I'll teach you for hitting me with a rolling pin" he grunted lifting the butt of his rifle "How do you like this."

"Azusa get my gun!" Ritsu called narrowly dodging the blow.

Azusa crawled forth and felt around on the floor as Ritsu dodged his hits as best she could.

Azusa found it and aimed it at where she thought he was.

"Come on Azusa!" Ritsu roared "Do something."

"I can't see in the dark!" Azusa whimpered.

"Shoot!"

BANG, BANG, BANG, Azusa shot randomly in the dark and with three shots he crumbled to the floor and Ritsu was released.

She heard a scream.

"I killed again," Azusa realized "ha ha I killed again Ritsu did you see that?"

"Now's not the time!" Ritsu said grabbing her "We need to escape."

She started to dash towards the hall but a hail of gunfire mad her change directions "Azusa we can't reach the door!"

"Go Upstairs!"

The two bolted up the stairs followed in pursuits by many footsteps.

"The room on the left!" Azusa cried as they darted into the room they'd slept in, their bed was still wrinkled from where they'd slept.

"Now what? Sleep until they go away?" Ritsu asked frantically.

"No, we jump out the window," Azusa with a mad grin.

"Seriously? Are you crazy Azusa?"

"Yes, I think I am," With that she grabbed Ritsu's hand and jumped out the window.

Azusa closed her eyes as they fell through the air, wondering if she'd survive the fall. She couldn't die now, not when her friends were here.

To her surprise it wasn't hard ground she landed on but something soft.

"I've got you Azu-nyan!"

She opened her eyes to see Yui had caught her mid fall, Mugi and Mio had tried to catch Ritsu but failed leaving her in a bush mostly unharmed.

"Yui-Sempai?" Azusa looked at her in awe.

"Yeah It's me!" Yui patted her on the head "I been ages since I saw you Azu-nyan."

Ritsu got up from the bush and brushed herself off "it's great that we're reunited and all but we should really get somewhere safer before celebrating, there are still a bunch of people trying to get us!"

Yui nodded "Yeah let's get out of here."

* * *

**A/N: I am really, really sorry I took so long to update, I had a load of work to do for my exams and I did loads of editing on this chapter. Anyway I will not take as long in the future I am sorry. I know it's very annoying to keep waiting for updates. That's how I started writing actually, there was this fic I really liked but it hadn't updated in month, so I decided to write the ending myself. Anyway I'll update more quickly next time, ****defiantly.**

**Replies to reviews **

**I like doing this segment but I'm a bit worried that I might be putting off people from reviewing by answering them like this. I won't answer people if they don't want me to.**

**Yo: Sorry it was a bit longer than I said. This chapter is really long though which sort of makes up for it? I actually think it is a bit too long but oh well. There will be a proper reunion next time! It was a bit short in this one. Anyway thanks for being a loyal reader and reviewer ^^ Also you're reviews are always fun to read :)**

**Sam Hayne: You shouldn't be nervous to review other things especially NTY. I mean it's got about eight hundred reviews already no body would notice one more, I doubt ****AdrenaVeris even reads all the reviews since she has so many. Uh I don't know if that makes you feel better about it or not but I think smaller fics read reviews more. Those big shot fan fiction authors with their hundreds of reviews and favorites lose sight of their readers. I bet they don't have a review reply segment at the end of every chapter! I'm just jealous because they're more popular though, it's impossible to keep in contact with readers when you have so many. Anyway my point is that putting something on the internet like a review or a story or a comment can sometimes be a nervous thing. I mean I still get nervous when I write a story and wait for the reviews to come in but it's really nothing to be worried about. I'm sure you have loads of valid things to say about others fics like you do for this one and I'm sure other fic writers would appreciate your comments as well. Also Baka-Sama, Cosmic-Baka, Cosmic-sama, Baka-sensei, Author-sama and Baka-dono are all acceptable names for me. Unacceptable names include Cosmic-chan, Baka-tan and Cosmic-pyon. That is all.  
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**Guest chapter 7: It's good to know someone can understand what they're saying. Sorry if the translations really bad, I don't actually know it also I remember there was a lot of swearing.**

**DjGrand: Thank you for Favoriting and following. I wouldn't say this is well written though, I think it is a roller coaster of quality. With some bits being quite good and others being bad. I think chapters six, seven and this one are the worst ones with chapters nine and two being the best. That's just my opinion though.**

**Next time on Grave of the Turtles (That title will have meaning later on): H.T.T has a happy reunion and absolutely nothing goes wrong.**


	12. Ritsu's Prisoner

**Ritsu's Prisoner **

Under the cover of darkness they managed to make their escape. Getting away wasn't as difficult as they might have thought, it was dark and they soon lost any followers under the cover of quickly as they could, the group left the town and any signs of settlement behind as they fled into the undergrowth. The long walk wasn't what any of them wanted after the stress of the day, but they needed to make sure they weren't being chased and knowing they were reunited again made it bearable.

When they did finally make camp at the edge of a grassy field, Ritsu collapsed to the ground in exhaustion "Today has been way too stressful," she concluded.

"Yeah, I just wanna go to sleep," Yui yawned, joining her on the ground.

"We've got some food though, and we've found the others," Mio reminded them "So it wasn't all bad."

"Any day where I get to see Azu-nyan and Mugi again is a good day," Yui said happily "it's so great to see them I though Mugi was going to be arrested for sure."

"It's good to be with all of you again," Mugi said as she looked at the friends she'd worried she'd never see again "I knew you'd come back for me."

"Yeah we aren't going to leave anyone behind Mugi," Ritsu said, smiling.

_You left me behind _Azusa wanted to say but she didn't want to cause conflict. After all it really wasn't their faults she'd been left on her own, they hadn't known she could escape. It was nice just seeing their faces again, it was comforting and she felt somewhat safer with them.

"It's strange that you're here Azusa ," Mio noted "we thought you were still in the shelter."

"I left to join up with all of you," she said "I was going to bring you back but..."

"Wait there's a way back?" Ritsu asked "we can go back to that place."

Azusa nodded "There's a vent."

Ritsu was tempted by the idea but ultimately dismissed it "no, we've come too far already to turn back now."

"Are you sure Ritsu? It will be safer there," Mio pointed out.

"We're going home right Mio? We don't need any shelter to keep us safe."

"If we're going home then we'll need to change our path, now that Azusa and Mugi are here I don't think it's a good idea keep following the roads anymore. We should keep out of sight where we can't be caught."

"That's gonna slow us down big time Mio; it will take day's more if we take the long way."

"I think we should do what's safest," Mugi said "Even if that means it takes longer."

"Mugi, we don't exactly have a lot of food at the moment; we've got a bit of rice but not enough for to last us for weeks. If we take it slowly we'll run out of food and in a few weeks it's winter and I really don't want to be out here when that happens."

"I'm sorry for forcing this on you," Mugi said.

"Huh why?"

"If you had just let me go then you would be home by now and you wouldn't have to deal with this. I am very sorry for making you rescue me," she bowed formally.

"Don't be like that Mugi," Ritsu smiled "We don't mind at all, the main thing that matters now is we're together now."

"Yeah and let's never get split up again!" Yui announced cheerfully.

The others nodded as they enjoyed the fact that for the first time since the shelter they were together. Azusa smiled at her Sempais as she felt the warm glow of friendship again.

"Okay now who wants to play a game of poker to celebrate our reunion?" Ritsu offered.

"Or maybe we could try to find some tea and celebrate that way?" Mugi suggested.

"I know," Yui said "maybe we can have a group hug to celebrate!"

They went with Yui's idea and all five of them huddled in for a group hug. It was so warm and comfortable Azusa didn't want it to end. After five minutes however it did and they broke apart to get ready for sleep

Azusa squeezed in the end of the blanket next to Yui. She tried to dodge her attempts to hug her but it was useless. She was with her friends, by all means she should be happy but she was troubled. Something seemed off now, she was still what happened earlier and she knew the moment she drifted off to sleep the nightmares would return. Yui held her closer, maybe she was safer here. Azusa heard the sound of distant bombs as she fell asleep.

* * *

They woke early the next morning, as Mio had promised and after a small helping of rice for breakfast they set off. Ritsu ultimately decided to follow Mio's idea of keeping out of sight by avoiding the roads. However, to compromise for the slower pace Ritsu was making them walk even longer without breaks.

As they walked they noticed the landscape around them was changing, they'd departed the more mountainous region the shelter had been in and were moving to lower ground. The land was now predominately agricultural; large paddy fields stretched over the hills only intersected by small traditional houses poking up. Many of the trees dotting the area had turned an autumn orange as a reminder of the season. After the stress of the last few days the cathartic view of rural Japan helped them all. Out here it was so peaceful they could almost forget the conflict that was ravaging the country. It was only the odd burned out building or military helicopter flying over that brought them back to reality.

The five of them trekked through an empty muddy field, trying to have a decent pace but being slowed to a halt by the mud. It was Ritsu that was at the head of the group, closely followed by Mio and Mugi with Yui and Azusa lagging at the back. Azusa's little legs were struggling to keep up with her Sempai's but she didn't want to tell them and make them slow down just for her, she didn't want to be a burden.

"This is really boring," Yui complained "We just keep walking and walking for ever, ugh."

"You're going to have to get used to this Yui," Ritsu said glancing back at her "we've still got a long way to go."

"This isn't so bad, the scenery's so nice it's like a lovely walking trip," Mugi said.

"It's not a walking trip," Azusa said irritably "Don't trivialize the situation Mugi."

"It is sort of a walking trip because we're walking and on a trip" Yui pondered.

"You knew what I meant Yui," Azusa snapped.

Yui looked at Azusa with concern "Are you okay Azu-nyan?"

"Yes."

"Yeah I guess you're just grumpy because you haven't had candy in a while," Yui said "I get the same way."

"That's not it at all" Azusa sighed.

They carried on trudging through the field, Ritsu vaulted over a low fence.

"We should sing again," Yui suggested "It won't be so boring then and now Azu-nyan's here it will be like old times."

"Sing?" Azusa said "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it will be fun Azu-nyan," Yui said happily.

Several crows flew into the air as they nosily entered the next field.

"Don't say you are lazy!" Yui started to sing but Azusa stopped her.

"Be quiet Yui" You'll attract attention," Azusa shouted, making more of the crows fly up to the sky.

"What's your problem Azusa?" Ritsu demanded, turning back to her.

"Oh it's nothing," Azusa said abruptly she didn't want to cause a fuss and the last thing she wanted to do was make them resent her presence but how could Yui just sing, after everything that had happened."

"Right well if Azusa doesn't want to sing we won't sing but we should do something to deal with this boredom" Ritsu concluded.

"I'm sorry."

"How about we play animal Shiritori?" Yui suggested.

"No, that sounds stupid" Azusa dismissed.

She hated that they could all be so upbeat in their circumstances. They all could have died last night but they all acted just like they back it the club-room. Things weren't the same now no matter how much she wanted them to be. She'd killed, and had to do terrible things to get to them but they didn't seem to acknowledge that at all, they only cared about singing and animal Shiritori. Seeing them again just reminded her of how much she'd changed and how she couldn't be what she once was.

Azusa spotted something in the long nearby grass. She took a few steps towards it before being repulsed by the smell. It was a body, half rotten and covered with flies. She felt sick.

"Azusa hurry up!" Ritsu called.

When she didn't respond she came running back, before seeing what she saw. "Just ignore it Azusa," Ritsu said as she beckoned Azusa onward.

Azusa stepped away from it and followed Ritsu again.

"Hey, why is it that only certain animals are pet animals?" Ritsu asked everyone "I mean why can't we have friendly lion's or tigers as pets?"

Azusa looked at Ritsu in disbelief, she just saw the same thing Azusa did but straight after she started a conversation about animals? How could she do that?"

"I'd probably like a red panda is a pet," Yui announced "they're super cute and playful."

"I'd like a sunfish," Mugi said "or a turtles."

"We already have a turtle Mugi-chan," Yui reminded her "I wonder how Ton-chan is doing anyway, I hope he's okay."

"He should be fine, turtles can live for a while without food" Ritsu said.

"What animal would you like Mio?" Yui asked cheerfully.

"Oh I wouldn't want anything special, just a cat."

"Oh just like Azu-nyan!" Yui said, taking the opportunity to try to hug Azusa.

She dodged, even though she'd missed them Yui's hugs were ritual annoyance for her now, she seemed to be taking nearly every opportunity she could to try and glomp her. Maybe their time apart had meant she wanted to compensate by spending lots of time with her now but Azusa simply found it irritating. The talk of cat's had reminded Azusa of the one she had owned temporarily, Yui's cat namesake who'd been so cruelly killed. Innocents like her were dying in this war but Yui and the others were just talking about pets like it was in anyway important. Azusa spied another body in the grass.

"My parents won't let me have a cat because of the mess," Mio explained

"Wow what cruel people," Ritsu said "My parents let me do pretty much anything."

"Mine don't let me eat candy in bed," Yui said "It's really unfair."

"How can you be so blind!? Azusa shouted as loudly as she could.

They all turned to look at her.

"What is it Azu-nyan?"

"We're not here to have fun!" She shouted "None of you are taking this war seriously!

The others looked at her quizzically, she didn't want to be saying this but she felt she had to.

"This is a war! None of you seem to understand the situation we're in, the danger that we face everyday!" She shouted.

"Aw I think you're a little grumpy Azu-nyan," Yui said "Do you want some food to cheer you up?"

"What are you doing Yui?" Azusa shouted, annoyed that she wasn't being taken seriously "This is serious, if we mess around we'll die! You can't just play games, have fun and treat everything like its normal. It isn't!" Azusa spluttered red in the face "Look around you!"

It was then the rest of the group spotted that there were numerous corpses all around them in the field. The bodies were a mxture of Japanese and Chinese soldiers all slain in a recent battle. Only the crows had thought to clean up their bodies.

"This is reality," Azusa shouted "Not you all talking about stupid cats and cakes like we're back in the club-room!"

"Azu-nyan? What are you talking about?" Yui asked tentatively.

"I'm talking about the truth Yui, that none of you seem to realize. Last night could have killed us and you don't seem to care! I've killed people Yui; I bashed someone's head in with a shovel. That's what your little Azu-nyan had to do to survive!"

Yui looked thoroughly upset "Azu-nyan? You don't really mean that do you?"

"I do Yui; you need to realize what's going on around you."

Ritsu stepped in front of her "Yui get back I'll deal with her."

Somewhat forcibly Ritsu dragged her to the side away from the others. Azusa was still fuming.

"Look Azusa I get what you're saying but..."

""I can't believe all of you," she said angrily "You just talk about normal things and ignore the situation it's..."

"Listen to me Azusa," Ritsu said, cutting her off "Do you really think we don't know what's going on? You think we just are completely unaware of our position?"

"No but I-I"

"We know Azusa, we all know," Ritsu said as Azusa snivelled "We just try to block it out, it's depressing, and we haven't exactly had it easy either Azusa. We just try not to think about how screwed we are. That's why we sing, and talk about random stuff and try to have a good time. It's to try to keep our minds off what's actually happening. Do you understand?"

"Yes" Azusa nodded reluctantly "I understand, but we still need to take it seriously."

"You leave the leading to me Azusa; I know what I'm doing."

"Don't you want me here?"

Ritsu patted her head "Of course we want you, you're our friend after all. Just try not to be like that okay? Especially around Yui, you know how much you mean to her."

"Okay I'll try" Azusa agreed weakly.

Ritsu smiled at her "Come on we shouldn't stay to long around here." "

As Azusa and Ritsu walked back to the others she could see all their eyes were upon her. In made her feel very self aware.

"Azusa are you okay?" Mugi asked, she seemed to understand more than the others.

"I'm fine," Azusa said "I'm sorry about that outburst."

She approached Yui who still looked shocked.

"Yui I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you" she said.

"I guess you've changed a lot now Azusa" Yui said looking at her with sadness.

"I'm still Azu-nyan Yui, I'm still the same" she said trying to act cheery.

"You're not though" Yui whimpered "You said you're not."

"Well, I'm still you're friend Yui. That's one thing that hasn't changed."

The two smiled at each other and hugged.

"Hurry up," Ritsu called "We're going to sing again."

They walked through the rest of the field of corpse in as cheery mood as they could and Azusa said no more. It was a few more hours before Ritsu decided to make camp for the night but after a while they found somewhere suitable. It was at the edge of a wood near an abandoned quarry, it was out of sight of any roads and the rock face provided some shelter from the wind.

"Here is probably a good spot," she said sitting down "there's a lot of spare wood for a fire."

The girl lay down their bags and began to clear a place for a fire.

"How much food do we have?" Mugi asked.

"Not that much," Ritsu said "Enough for a while I suppose but with five mouths to feed this is going to run out real fast."

"Is it just rice we have left?" Mio asked

"Yeah that's pretty much it, we may have a few bits of candy left but nothing else substantial."

"Rice on its own is not good for a balanced diet and it's dull," Mio told them "We need vegetables and protein if we're to be healthy."

"And Cakes," Mugi added.

"Hey don't be hard on rice, rice is amazing!" Yui declared passionately.

"Well it's okay as a side dish..." Mio started.

"Rice is not a side dish!" Yui insisted.

Snap!

There was the sound of somebody moving near the camp.

"What was that?" Ritsu demanded, looking at her friends. Mio looked on edge, Azusa looked suspicious, Mugi looked pensive and Yui was playing with some grass. They were all there so the noise had to be somebody else.

Ritsu stood up and scanned the nearby environment, she couldn't see into the quarry but the nearby trees seemed to be clear. Ritsu stood up, scanning their surrounding with her hand over her forehead to block out the glare of the setting sun.

"What are you doing Ritsu?" Mio asked.

"I think there's someone out there," Ritsu whispered, reaching to her hip for gun-kun.

"I didn't hear anything," Yui said "Let's eat this rice already Ricchan."

"No, I heard something," she said taking a few steps forward "If there's an enemy out there..."

"I don't think there is," Mugi pondered "this area is deserted."

"I need to check if we're safe," she countered "We can't let people be here who might get us in our sleep."

"Okay," Mio agreed as she started a fire "don't take too long."

Ritsu nodded and prepared to go off "I'll just check the area to make sure it's secure."

"Wait!" Azusa shouted and Ritsu turned around "I'll go with you."

Ritsu nodded "Alright, Come on."

Lacking a spade in the immediate vicinity Azusa grabbing a large stick from the ground. It didn't compare much to Ritsu's pistol. Tentatively Ritsu moved forward, it was dark and she couldn't see where she was headed. Azusa followed silently behind "Can you see anyone?"

She heard a rustling from a nearby bush, there was somebody there, she could tell there was somebody there, moving in the dark.

She pointed her gun at it "Hey you, come out or I'll shoot."

To her surprise a figure did emerge from the position. He brushed off leaves and looked at them "Wow, I never thought I'd be captured by a bunch of Japanese girls and not even strong looking ones."

"Who is it? Azusa shouted, from where she was standing a few meters away she couldn't see the figure in the dark.

"Yeah, who are you?" Ritsu demanded. He stepped forward she could see him more clearly from his uniform they could all tell he was from the Chinese army. Alarm bells rang in Ritsu's head, this guy was an enemy and a threat. Despite this he didn't look all that threatening, he was small and covered in dirt and camouflage paint. By his side was a sniper rifle. Instinctively Ritsu reached for her gun and aimed directly at him. He looked unimpressed by her move.

"Are you going to shoot me?"

"What do you want with us?!" She demanded.

"I don't want anything with you," he said "I don't know who you people are but I really don't care."

"Well who do you work for?!" Ritsu demanded angrily, refusing to believe he had no interest in them.

"I'm Chinese, so I work for them" he said bluntly "Can I go now?"

"Ah, so you are the enemy!" Ritsu said spryly.

"I'm no enemy of you," he said looking at placidly "You're just harmless little girls."

That made Ritsu scowl. "We're not harmless! I've got a gun."

"I doubt you even know how to use that, you've probably never fired it before in your life."

"I have, I'm nearly an expert," Ritsu lied.

"Then why is you're gun not loaded?"

Ritsu quickly realized he was telling the truth and reloaded.

"You really are harmless" he said smugly.

"Ritsu-Sempai what should we do about him?" Azusa asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"We can't just let him go, he's a threat!"

"I'm not going to hurt you I really, don't care about you," the prisoner, bored of the whole affair.

"You shut up!"

"What's going on Ricchan?" Yui asked appearing behind them and looking at the man "Whoa who's that weird guy."

"I found him sneaking near our camp," Ritsu explained "He's an enemy."

"Oh so is he our prisoner now?"

"Yeah, until we've figured out what to do with him," Ritsu said.

"I've got dinner ready," Mugi called "its rice and more rice."

"Great, I'm hungry," Yui said "Come on Ricchan and Azu-nyan let's get dinner."

"But what about the prisoner? I can't just leave him here."

"You can bring him to dinner too," Yui suggested.

"Okay you heard her, come to the camp and we'll keep guard over you while we eat."

"Do I get to eat to? I could use some food."

"This is our food," Ritsu explained as she brought him to camp "We don't have that much so you're not allowed any."

Still with the gun pointed at him they sat down at the campfire, which was now roaring and spreading light through the clearing.

Mugi took immediate notice of the stranger. "Oh we have a guest, would you like some rice with rice?" Mugi pushed a small helping towards him.

"Oh yes please" he said grabbing some rice.

"Mugi he's our prisoner, don't give him our food!"

"But he's so thin and starved looking," Yui protested "It would be cruel to not give him any."

"I agree," he said "you should give me as much food as you can."

"You, just shut up and be a prisoner!" Ritsu shouted.

"I'm fine with being a prisoner if I can eat your food."

Yui watched the stranger eat "So what's it like living in China? Is it really weird?"

He shrugged "its okay I prefer it here though."

"Yui, don't small talk with the prisoner!" Ritsu insisted "Pretend he's not here."

"He doesn't seem that bad Ritsu," Azusa said "unlike most people we meet he doesn't want to arrest or kill us."

"That's true, I don't have any interest in you at all," he confirmed.

"He is still from the enemy side though," Ritsu announced "And we as Japanese citizens have a duty to intercept enemies. I bet my Dad would be pleased now to see me having captured someone."

"Ritsu our side has tried to have me and Azusa sentenced to prison camps," Mugi pointed out "I'm not sure we should be supporting them."

"Your friend seems a lot more intelligent than you, you should listen to her," the captive told Ritsu.

"Yeah Ricchan can be a bit thick-headed sometimes," Yui told him.

"Yui, what did I say about talking to the prisoner?" Ritsu said before sighing and turning to him "What's your name anyway, you must have one?"

"Corporal Sheng," he answered.

"That's a funny name" Yui said "I though Tsumugi was a really weird name but yours is way weirder."

"It's a Chinese name so it would probably sound strange to you," Sheng said as he ate some more of their rice.

"If you're from China then how come you speak Japanese so well?" Mio asked, gathering up the courage to speak to the stranger.

"Well this isn't my first time visiting Japan, I spent a couple of years here when I was younger," he explained.

"Why did you come here?" Ritsu asked "Why not stay in your own country?"

"Well, it's where all the decent jobs were; the wages are a lot higher over here. That's the main reason; I also just like this place and its culture. If it wasn't for being treated like a second class citizen I would have stayed," he explained "Can I have some more rice please?"

"You've already had way more than we should have given you," Ritsu said as Mugi handed him some.

"Thank you," He said as he got a second helping "this is lovely, I love Japanese food."

"It's just a shame it's our Japanese food," Ritsu said bluntly.

"Hey I'm hungry I haven't eaten a proper meal in days, I'm a sniper and when I run out of food on a mission I have to find some myself. There's no way I can get resupplied when I'm in enemy territory."

They finished their meal of rice and put away the food they hadn't eaten.

"Hey does anyone want a game of poker?" Ritsu asked. Everyone but Mio and Azusa agreed. The two of them sat a bit away from the main group.

"So you don't feel like playing either?" Azusa asked.

"It didn't go that well last time," Mio explained.

"Okay."

"You've been quiet since earlier Azusa; don't you feel like talking?"

"I don't really know what there is to talk about anyway" Azusa sighed " Ritsu said earlier than I should try and be upbeat for the sake of moral but I find it hard to say anything positive about our situation so I end up not saying anything."

Mio nodded "I understand, that's Ritsu's acting like an idiot again, I understand what she'd trying to do. She wants to shield the group from the war by trying to act normal. She can't keep it up for ever though; someday she'll break and realize she can't keep deluding herself forever. If she does that then this group may fall apart."

Azusa nodded and looked at Ritsu having fun with the stranger and the others. She looked so happy there with them like she didn't have any stresses.

"You know seeing people from opposite sides get along like that kind of gives me hope for the future," Azusa admitted "if both sides can get along now then maybe the war could end."

"Oh yeah, Japan one China zero," Ritsu laughed as she beat the prisoner with a royal flush "go Japan."

"It won't go the same way it the war you know," he said.

"No way, you're going down," Ritsu insisted.

"You're kidding yourself, I'm sorry to say there's no way you can win. Your navy is decimated, you're running out of food and power and you're outnumbered 4:1. You're side will lose."

That statement brought the camp mood down considerably.

"Hey Sheng, what are you doing out here anyway?" Ritsu asked.

"I've got a mission to take out an important person, it's very important."

"Who exactly?" Ritsu said, going cold.

"Oh some big army guy who's leading around here."

"What was his name?" Ritsu asked, dreading the answer.

"General Tainaka."

* * *

When the campfire had died and all the other girls were asleep, Ritsu threw off the blanket and crawled over to a nearby sleeping figure. She reached for her gun and pressed it against his head.

Sheng's eye's opened his eyes to find the muzzle of a gun against his forehead.

"Get up!"

He took in the situation calmly "Are you going to shoot me?"

"I said Get up!" Ritsu whispered and he obeyed. She's made sure his rifle was nowhere in range, he couldn't fight back.

Ritsu prodded gun-kun into the back of his head "Walk, I don't want to do this where the others can hear."

"I don't care any direction. I don't want to do this where the others can here" Ritsu said. Slowly Sheng began to walk away from campRitsu a few inches behind making sure he didn't run. The moonlight that shone through the canopy was all they had to see by.

"Why you are doing this?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you, keep moving" she demanded.

"I don't think I have much choice."

After five minutes they arrived in a clearing, there was enough light for Ritsu to see the fear on his face and far enough away for them not to hear.

"It's my Dad," Ritsu said weakly as she pressed the gun against his head.

"General Tainaka?"

"Yep."

"I guess you want me to not kill him."

"Please, can you?"

He shook his head "Disobeying orders counts as treason. The punishment is execution."

"There has to be another way, I don't want to have to do this," she trembled, her hands were shaking.

"I could tell you all sorts of lies about promising to not do it or accidentally missing. You're not stupid, you know there's no way to make me do anything after you release me but please think about what you are doing. Do you really want to be a murderer?" Even in the limited visibility she could see he was shaking.

Ritsu hesitated as she held the gun "My dad meant everything to me, he was the one I turned to as a kid, he taught me everything I know about leadership, I can't let you kill him."

"Please don't do this," he whimpered. The calm he'd shown earlier had completely disappeared.

He was simply begging for his life.

"I'm sorry."

Ritsu cocked the gun and released a single bullet into the back of his skull. He fell to the floor, limp as blood sprayed out. Her hands were numb in the cold night air as she looked down at the corpse and walked away. As she returned to camp quietly what she'd said to Azusa echoed in her mind. She had been wrong, this was war there was no place for laughter and jokes, this was serious. There could be no more fun for her now.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I took a little longer than I should have on this one. I was aiming for once every seven days but I missed it by two. Anyway this chapter's a little slower than the last few I think, I'm trying to refocus the plot a bit on them getting home. I think that with a story such as this it is possible to keep coming up with new places for them to see or people to meet and get distracted from the main plot. That's why there aren't going to be that many more chapters, about five probably before it finishes but the last two will be really long.**

**Review Replies **

**Yo: Hi again, I took a long time on this one as well (I'm sorry.) Anyway that proper reunion didn't really happen, I had done this bit where they found an abandoned music venue and they played a reunion concert but I cut it out because I thought it seemed really unlikely and it didn't really add anything. Anyway**** I think t****hat Kotatsu sentence got a bit broken. Stuff like that happens when you write common occurrence even though you write makes sense although in your head and creates what have thought accidentally in a sentence in reality it becomes not make sense XD That's why it's important for me to proof read or I end up just writing things like that. Anyway thank you for your comments. BTW you are really good at using emoticons, I can only do basic ones like ^^ and :) but you're on a whole other level! (*_*) **

**Sam: They didn't get betrayed this time! Actually it was more Ritsu doing the betraying in this chapter sort of. I would actually love to become a successful author both for fan fiction and for original stuff. I am no where near good enough at the moment though. I think I can get better though, I want to learn from this to become better. Then the next long fic I write may be better and more popular and the one after that better as well until eventually I get to AdrenaVeris's level. Then I might be a good enough writer to publish my own book. I have a long way to go from here though and I probably won't get there but I can dream anyway. The Magnificent Baka Sama is an acceptable name certainly, is there anything you'd like to be called or is Sam fine? Anyway thank you for reviewing. ^^**

**Imuffinator: Oh hi I****muffinator it's good to see you're still around. The errors are because my Beta reader's not active at the moment, he's got some personal stuff so he's not up to it. Anyway I fixed the one's you pointed out and I tried to be more diligent this chapter :D**

******DJGrand-Bouzu: Author-pyon is not an acceptable term! XD It is going to be hard for them now with wanted posters everywhere, expect that to come back and bite them later. Also don't worry you can call me what ever you want, as long as it is on the list of permitted terms and isn't Author-pyon. Anyway Thank you reviewing and liking this ^^  
**

******I wonder what percentage of reader's actually read the authors notes? A lot of people probably skip them, I don't blame them to be honest it is normally only of tangible relevance to the fic and the replies don't make sense if you haven't seen the review. Anyway **

******Next week(or 9 days or possibly two weeks but probably next week because I don't want to keep people waiting) on Grave of the turtles: Yui and Azusa go on a nice peaceful walk.**


	13. Firewood

**Chapter 13 Firewood**

The stars were so bright out in the countryside; Ritsu had thought that on the first night they'd spent camping out but the full force of their beauty hadn't hit her till now. She hadn't been able to sleep, so she'd spent most of the night gazing up at the heavens, admiring the sparkling constellations and the crescent moon. It was tranquil in a way; Ritsu wasn't normally one to stop and look at nature but made even her feel peaceful.

She rested her head gently among the long grass, she was laying a little way from the others but she was still close enough to hear Yui snoring anything happened then she'd be ready to spring into action and protect them. Ritsu liked to think she was watching over them as they slept.

It would be difficult for her tomorrow, she didn't know what to say to the others about what she'd done and she wasn't sure they'd understand. Ritsu almost wished that this night would stay forever and that the inevitable dawn would never come.

There were no clouds in the sky tonight. It was completely calm. It was rare to see a night such as this uninhibited by smog or clouds. It made Ritsu feel better somehow, as if all complications and ambiguities had been removed from her life and it was just her and the sky. A gentle wind brushed past her, sending the long grass blowing across her face. After a few seconds it stopped and the stillness returned.

The campfire had died hours ago and all that remained now was a few charred remains. Every fire burnt out eventually, some went very quickly and others took longer but they all died eventually. Sometimes the campfire would last till the morning and Ritsu would have to stomp it out her self. If she didn't then it might create a forest fire and hurt people. It was a necessary task to do for everyone's safety but that didn't mean it didn't scorch Ritsu's foot when she did it. She heard a faint rustling behind her.

"Is that you Ritsu?" A voice said.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

Azusa crouched down next to her in the long grass "I couldn't sleep either."

The two sat side by side wordlessly for several heartbeats.

"Look at the stars Azusa," Ritsu pointed "Aren't they beautiful?"

"I guess."

Azusa raised her head and stared up with her, her nightmares had woken her up yet again but she'd done well not to disturb the others with them.

"Every one of them is a giant ball of gas burning in space," Ritsu told her "They're all just like our sun, with planets and moons and things orbiting."

"So what Ritsu?"

"I don't know I just always found that incredible."

The two of them gazed up in silence.

"You were right you know Azusa."

"Huh?"

"About what you said yesterday about this not being a game. Well you were right, this isn't about having fun, it's about survival. I think it took last night for me to realize how big my responsibilities are."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Getting all of you back home alive," Ritsu said quietly "that's my job, my only job. Everything else is secondary, my health, other peoples lives, none of it matters if I can protect the people I love."

Ritsu clenched her hand around some nearby blades of grass in her hand and ripped them from their roots "you agree right? That's the role of a leader isn't it?"

"I guess so, I don't really know much about looking after others, I can barely look after myself."

Ritsu considered this "Do you think I'm a good leader Azusa?"

"I haven't been around here long I think you do it well, you make good decisions. It's not like when you were club president and you just messed around."

"No it's not like that," Ritsu agreed "Leadership is about hard choices, anyone could do it with it was easy, it's about deciding what's the best option for everyone."

She paused for a second "I don't think I've done that. I make decisions but I have no idea if their right. Was leading everyone home what's best for us? Was hitting that women best for us? Was stopping that jeep best for us? I don't know Azusa. I guess I'm just not much of a leader Azusa, I try to act all confident and put on a brave face but inside I'm as scared as everybody else. I always tease Mio for being a scaredy-cat but I'm just as bad as her really, worse maybe. At least Mio has a reason for being scared, I'm just a coward. I'm just some stupid drummer from a band who's trying to act tough and be a leader." She sighed and said sarcastically "I'm sure my dad would be very proud of me right now."

Azusa wanted to say something to make Ritsu feel better but she hadn't the right words "Well um it doesn't matter that you're scared, I mean everyone is but um..."

"It's alright Azusa," Ritsu quieted "You don't have to say anything."

They could see the sun beginning to rise beyond the hills as morning approached. Ritsu got to her feet and brushed some of the grass off of her "The others will be waking up soon; I guess it's time for me to lead again."

* * *

Mio rubbed her eyes and saw Ritsu sitting opposite her. "Ritsu? Why are you up so early, did you need to go to the toilet?"

"Yeah that's it," Ritsu figured it was easier to explain that way.

"What are we doing today Ritsu, do you have a plan?" Mio looked at her expectantly.

"The same thing we do everyday Mio, try to get back home," Ritsu said tiredly.

Mio nodded and turned to wake Yui and Mugi up.

"Hey you two it's time to get up," She whispered gently as they stirred into consciousness.

"Uh," Yui groaned "I was having a really nice dream where I found Gita again."

Azusa was glad to hear that the others weren't suffering the same nocturnal torment she was.

"Yeah and then we all staged a concert to stop the war and it was so good that everybody just stopped fighting and listened to out music," Yui explained.

"If it were that easy to end the war then we wouldn't have anything to worry about now," Mio sighed. She crawled over to the dead campfire and started scattering the ashes.

"Hey Mio-chan what are you doing?" Yui asked curiously.

"I'm getting rid of the ashes from are fire, that way we won't be able to be tracked."

"Yeah that's how I followed you at first," Azusa added.

"Maybe I should stop carving my name into trees too," Yui considered.

"That's probably a good idea Yui."

Mugi joined them all by the ruined campfire "I could really do with a nice cup of tea," She mused.

"I'd love some cakes," Yui agreed "Do you think they'll still be some back at the club room?"

"Yeah there will be Yui, there will be," Ritsu confirmed "there's going to be all kinds of cakes back there."

Ritsu brought out her now well worn back pack "but for now we have to have rice and water."

They had been using the plastic bottles Ritsu had originally brought to carry their water, however there were only four of them and they got drunk quickly. Often they had to take detours in the hopes of finding a stream or at least a public tap, these detours cut hours into their walking time and sometimes they had to go thirsty for a while. The system they'd had of one bottle each had been completely thrown off by Azusa's arrival and they were now consuming more water than ever. Ritsu tried to impose a strict system of rationing on them but when her friends were tired and thirsty from miles of walking it was very hard to deny them water.

"One sip of water each okay? We need to save some for later," Ritsu handed out the bottles to her friends who accepted gratefully. Ritsu seemed a little off today Mio decided, she was a lot less stable than usual. As Mio stared at her she got drawn to something else on another of her friends. Mugi had a large cut running down her leg and it looked fresh.

"Mugi, where did you get that?" Mio asked.

"This? Oh I must have got it yesterday," she answered "why do you ask?"

"That's going to go nasty if you don't do something about it," Mio said "let me have a look at it."

She crawled over and held up Mugi's right leg, she didn't know how she hadn't spotted it earlier, they all had scrapes and bruises on their legs now, but this one looked a lot worse than normal.

"I'm sure it will be okay, there's no need to worry," Mugi answered soothingly.

"Yes there is Mugi, if this gets infected then there's no way of getting a doctor," Mio stressed "you've got to tell us about these things."

"We don't have anything antibacterial do we?" Azusa asked.

"No, nothing like that at all," Ritsu answered grimly.

"Maybe we can wrap something around her leg to keep the dirt out?" Yui suggested peering with interest at Mugi's leg.

"Yeah, that's a good idea Yui," Mio smiled.

"Yeah, I saw it in a movie," she admitted.

"We still need something to put on the wound."

"Here," Yui peeled off her tights and gave them to Mio "I don't really need these anyway."

Mio wrapped them around Mugi's leg tightly, "That will have to do for now," she said "I don't know how much that will prevent infection but it'll be better than nothing."

"We should go already," Ritsu said "We've been here far too long."

They packed up their blanket and remaining equipment and set off yet again for their journey, the sky was as grey as yesterday and there was a biting wind that rushed past them.

"Hey," Yui started as they began to walk "what happened to that nice Chinese man who was here yesterday? Where did he go?"

"You mean the prisoner?" Azusa asked "He probably just left in the night, right Ritsu?"

"Yeah that'll be it," Ritsu said.

"I don't think he would have done that," Yui mused "I think he would have stayed and said a proper good bye to us."

"No he wouldn't, just drop it Yui," Ritsu snapped.

"But Ricchan he could have stayed and looked out for us with his cool sniper gun, if he'd have stayed we'd be a lot safer. I mean it would be nice to have a grown up around here who knows what they're doing."

Ritsu turned on her in an instant "I'm the one who looks out for you Yui, me! I'm the leader you don't need some evil enemy solider to look out for you when you've got me okay!"

"Okay I just was saying…" Yui said, intimidated by Ritsu, she'd never had her friend turn on her like this; she was normally so laid back.

"Well don't okay, next time you want to say something about a stupid dream or how much you'd prefer to have somebody else as a leader just stay silent okay!" Ritsu bellowed.

"Alright you don't have to be so stressy Ricchan, try to be calm, relax," Yui advised with a nervous smile.

"I can't Yui I'm angry, why is it that I'm the one that has to do everything and you don't do anything for the group? I'm the one leading you home. I saved you when there was a bear, I went after Mugi when she was in trouble what have you done for the group? Nothing, you don't contribute, you don't do anything. Mugi cooks and Mio helps with the fire and such even Azusa helped me with navigation the other day but you Yui you don't contribute at all. You just sit around playing with grass or fire or whatever," Ritsu ranted "you need to start getting your head out of the clouds and living in the real world Yui."

The moment Ritsu saw the hurt on Yui's face she knew she's made a big mistake. Yui was beginning to cry.

"You think I'm useless Ricchan?" She whimpered "I'm doing the best I can." A tear ran down her cheek.

"No, I didn't mean that," Ritsu said hastily "I mean you helped Mugi earlier right?"

"I'm sorry Ricchan, I'm sorry for being a burden and I'm sorry for not doing anything," Yui apologized.

"It's alright Yui," Mio comforted.

"No, Mio-chan I really am useless I'm not smart like you or strong like Mugi-chan, the only thing I was ever good at was playing Gita and he's gone now," Yui said "I want to help you all but I just don't know how."

"Hey," Ritsu said softly "It's alright Yui, we're still all together just try to keep it together okay? You can still help by being alert and looking out for us okay? And you'll be great if we ever need a guitarist."

"Thank you," Yui said wiping her eyes "I just don't want to let the group down again."

* * *

They made good progress that day, they were already reaching more habitable areas, more people meant more chance of being caught but also it meant more opportunities for food and other resources. Signs of war littered the countryside, they didn't find anymore battlefields like they had yesterday but destroyed tanks, shot down planes and bullet ridden buildings were common place. Since they'd had a productive day Ritsu let them camp early that night a few hours before it went dark, she figured they could use the extra time to forage the area or just relax.

"Mugi is your leg any better yet?" Mio asked as she a vacant looking Mugi.

"Ah yes it hasn't been any trouble today."

"If you ever need us to slow down for you just ask okay?" Mio confirmed.

"To be honest I have been struggling to keep up," Mugi admitted "I don't think it's infected yet though."

While Mugi and Mio were talking and Ritsu, Azusa approached Yui with a bottle of water.

"Do you want some?" She offered.

"No thanks I'm fine," Yui dismissed, she was looking into the distance, across a large field there was a facility with a large car park.

"Okay," Azusa said taking a swig her self "You really should though you'll get dehydrated."

"Azu-nyan look at that!" Yui interrupted and pointed forwards.

Azu-nyan stepped on top of Yui in hopes of seeing "what is it, an enemy? A bomb? A tea shop?"

"No it's a bus!" Yui said excitedly, she pointed to the facility, inside were rows of buses next to each other.

"So what Yui?"

"Azu-nyan that's the same type of bus we went to the shelter in, the same bus that took away Gita."

"It just looks the same."

Yui shook her head "There's loads of them there. Ones got to be the same, its fate Azu-nyan! Me and Gita will be reunited."

"Are you sure they wouldn't have taken it away? Why would they leave it on the bus?"

"It's got to be somewhere in there," Yui said, practically bouncing up and down with energy "we can actually do something Azusa! I'm not going to be useless anymore!"

"What do you want to do exactly?"

"Alright Azu-nyan," Yui said seriously "We go down there, sneak into that place, get Gita, steal a bus then ride all the way home. It's a perfect plan! Ricchan will be all like...

Yui lifted her fringe up in an impression of Ritsu "'W_ow Yui you got us transport and a musical instrument you are totally awesome and not useless you can be leader now.'_

"Uh huh," Azusa looked unconvinced.

She'll be exactly like that," Yui nodded.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to get ourselves in danger Yui," Azusa said "this plan could go so wrong."

"If it goes right then we have plus one Gita and a quick way home! The whole group will be so happy!"

Azusa had to admit the way Yui phrased it sounded tempting "Alright but we should consult Ritsu about it first."

"No, Azusa!" Yui shouted "You can't tell Ritsu, it has to be a surprise."

"A surprise? why?"

"Because it will be better Azu-nyan, Ricchan will be all like..."

"Not another Ritsu impression," Azusa sighed as Yui flipped her fringe.

_"'Oh leading is so hard I wish I had some music to cheer me up'_Then We'll appear with Gita and she'll be really happy!"

"Well I'm not sure this plan is going to work," Azusa started "But I guess we can give it a go."

"Of course the plan is going to work it's a really good plan."

"Okay," Azusa said nervously.

"We need a way to sneak off," Yui figured.

"I've got one," Azusa volunteered "this should work."

She walked over to Ritsu quickly got her attention "Me and Yui are going to get some firewood."

"Firewood?"

Azusa nodded.

"Alright but don't go too far the whole areas dangerous."

Azusa returned to her co-plotter "I've said we're getting firewood, this is our chance to sneak off."

"Alright," Yui said "Ritsu is going to be so surprised."

The two walked through the trees surrounding camp and into the field separating them and the facility housing the buses. There were no crops growing in it, simply a large area of bare earth. They could see the buses clearly but they were still well over a hundred meters away. The field was somewhat eerie in its emptiness; the only feature was a collapsed sign at the side now rendered unreadable through weathering.

Yui walked several paces ahead of her Kohai, striding confidently while Azusa looked around nervously.

"I'm starting to have doubts about this," Azusa said "it's stealing you know."

"It's not stealing, they took Gita so this is fair," Yui explained.

"I'm not sure that's how it works," Azusa said "anyway do you think this place is part of the shelter service? If it is then do you think they could get us into another one?"

Yui looked at Azusa strangely "Azu-nyan, why would you want to go back to a shelter? It smelled really funny in that place."

"It's safe though, a lot safer than home," she pointed out.

They were about half way into the field now and Yui started to spot some people staring at them from the sides of the fields. A few of them appeared to be waving their arms and shouting.

"Look Azu-nyan those people are waving at us!" Yui smiled and waved back "Hi everyone."

Azusa stopped dead in her tracks "Yui something's wrong."

"What the matter Azusa? Those people are just waving at us."

"No," Azusa spotted an abnormal bulge in the ground a few feet from her.

"Come on Azu-nyan let's go," Yui started to walk forward.

Azusa grabbed her by the arm and held her back. With panic in her eyes she whispered "Yui, don't walk another step."

"Azu-nyan why not?" She could see Azusa was shaking.

"Yui," Azusa said weakly "we're in the middle of a minefield."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the wait and length on this one. The thing is I have a second round of exams next week so I have loads of work. I can't do this and my work without sacrificing the quality of one or both. Therefore I'm going to have to take a little break from this for a while. My last exam is on the 10th of June and after that I have loads of time. After that I'm going to update really often, like every three days or something. Then I'll finish this properly and give it all my attention. I think for the last bit it's important to keep flow by doing it all in one bit so it won't lose impact by spreading it out. So it will be a while before I update next but after that I'll update really fast and finish this quickly. I want to give this enough time and attention so it is good but I can't do that when I have other things.**

**Now that's out of the way Review replies.**

**Yo: Unfortunately I don't think I'll find a way to put that it, I have to cut out loads for this. Also I don't want this story to go on for too long so I can't put everything I come up with in. I'm worried that if it drags on people will start to become bored and stop reading and also I want to work on other things after this so I want to do that. Also emoticons are really easy if you copy and past them (^_-)- ****＼****(****o****)****／！**** They can be dangerous though, I tried to copy one and it made my webpage crash. I had to type this whole Authors note bit again! Those invalid symbols are annoying too ^^ Anyway thank you for keeping reading even though I'm taking ages!**

**Sam: Thank you! I'm still a way off being a successful writer though. I have loads of ideas for stories but I often can't execute them well. I'm probably not going to do anything else until this is finished though. I think I could achieve it if I work hard though. I always think that if you don't go after you're dreams then they have no chance of coming true. Like if someone wanted to be an astronaut but they tell themselves that it's unrealistic and never going to happen then it never will. Whereas if they believe they can and pursue it then they probably will. That was a bit of a stupid metaphor but the point is that people should pursue their dreams in life. I'm going to try my best to keep improving my writing then one day I can make a career out of it. The next step towards that is trying to submit a short story to a literary magazine, which is what I'm going to try to do over the summer. Anyway that's enough about me. I'd be happy talking to you outside of ffn, I'm not sure how though. You could make an account and PM me maybe? You seem like a nice guy so I wouldn't mind staying in touch with you after this had ended. ^^**

**InoYashuOuranKyoFan: Ritsu is a massive badass, but she gets to be even more of a badass later!**


	14. The Minefield

**The Minefield **

Ritsu put her hand over her brow and scanned the horizon, she couldn't see anything that looked dangerous but she couldn't be certain of their safety. Ever since last night she'd been on extra alert for danger. It was her job now, to make sure no harm befell any of her friends, and she was going to take it very seriously. It had been ten minutes now since Yui and Azusa had left to get firewood and Ritsu couldn't take her mind off them. What if they'd been attacked? Or captured? She was starting to question if she'd been right to let them go off on their own. There was no way she could protect them like this.

"What are you looking for Ritsu?" Mio asked, appearing beside her.

"Danger Mio, I'm looking for danger," Ritsu answered, not taking her eyes off her search "we can't let our guard down even for a second."

Mio took a quick look at the rows of fields ahead of them "there's nothing out there Ritsu."

"There could be anything out there Mio; you never know," Ritsu answered "just because you can't see it doesn't mean there isn't a threat out there."

"You don't need to be on alert all the time you know Ritsu," Mio advised it's important to take a break every once in a while."

"Yes, why don't you come and play cards with us Ritsu?" Mugi called from her seat on the floor.

Ritsu shook her head "I'm sure it would be fun but that's not what's important at the moment, I need to keep watch."

"Okay we'll just play without you then."

Mio gave Ritsu a worried look "I know this is a dangerous time Ritsu but there are some places which are safe."

With one last glance at Ritsu Mio left her side to sit down with Mugi. As she did so Ritsu let out a shout.

"Aha you're wrong!"

"What is it Ritsu?" Mio said jumping to attention.

Ritsu pointed into the distance "look over there, its danger!"

"I don't see it."

"Near that road?"

"Um yeah what about it?"

"There's soldiers there lying in wait," Ritsu explained "It's hard to see them but they're out there."

They were well camouflaged against the undergrowth but Mio could just about see them lying in the grass next to the road. There looked to be about a dozen in total.

"What are they doing just lying there?"

"I don't know but it can't be good," Ritsu said grimly.

"Do you think they're a threat?"

"They could be, I'm not sure what side they are on but that hasn't mattered before."

"They're a long way away," Mio pointed out as she tried to rationalize the situation "whatever they're doing they don't seem to be very interested in us."

"Are you saying we should ignore them?" Ritsu seemed perplexed by the suggestion.

"Well what else are we supposed to do Ritsu? You can't exactly go over there and shoot them. You know that's crazy, a squad of trained soldiers against you. You'd get slaughtered!"

"I know that," Ritsu snapped "I just hate that they're so close and we can't do anything about them."

"Excuse me Ritsu," Mugi said gently.

They turned round to see Mugi pondering something.

"What is it Mugi? Do you have any ideas because Mio sure doesn't?"

"Ritsu are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Mugi asked.

The question caught her off guard "huh you mean are we walking in the right direction? I think so; this is the way home right?"

"How do know we haven't looked at a signpost in days?"

"I know where we're going Mio, me and Azusa planned it out after we met up."

"It's just I thought our home was to the south," Mugi said "and we're going west."

"Why do you think that?"

Mugi pointed upwards "the sun, it rises in the east and sets in the west. It's setting directly in the way we are walking."

She was right, according to her calculations they had been going west not south, the completely wrong direction.

"We must have made a wrong turning at some point," Ritsu realized "How long as this happened for?"

"I think ever since we left the last town," Mugi considered "Maybe longer."

"I should have known we'd end up in the wrong place," Ritsu grumbled "The whole last two days we've been wasting our time going in the wrong direction!"

They all knew that meant two days of food had been used up and two more days closer to the harsh nights of winter.

"West?" Mio considered "we've been going west?"

"Didn't you hear her Mio?"

Mio looked pale "Ritsu don't you know what that means? West is where the Chinese invaded from, it's where the main army is stationed, we've been going further into the war zone."

"So instead of going to safety we've been travelling further and further into danger!" Ritsu shouted "I was supposed to take you somewhere safe!"

Their revelations were interrupted by the distant sound of gun fire. By now the sound was familiar to them all.

Mio, Mugi and Ritsu looked at each other in utter panic.

"Where did that come from?!" Mio asked.

Ritsu already had a good idea; she scrambled to her feet and looked out at her surroundings. The road she'd seen earlier now harboured a whole convoy of jeeps and tanks moving from the east. The soldiers from earlier had sprung an ambush and were firing upon them from their concealed position. It was chaos out there, explosions and gunfire echoed as they engaged in conflict. Ritsu stared in horror, it was so close to them, a stray shot could hit them. And what was worse was the tanks were heading in their direction.

Ritsu gritted her teeth and grabbed Mio "We have got to get out of here quick!"

"Ritsu we have to find Yui and Azusa!"

"Do you know where they are?"

"No we'll have to search the area."

Ritsu nodded "I hope they haven't gone too far, we need to get them and get out of here before this place turns into a war zone. Search the area and don't stop until you find them!"

* * *

Azusa was grabbing on tightly to Yui's arm, afraid to remove it lest Yui move from there safety. She couldn't let her make one wrong step.

"Are you sure this is a minefield Azu-nyan?" Yui said sceptically "it doesn't look that dangerous."

"It is very dangerous Yui," Azusa told her "don't move an inch until we figure out what to do okay?"

"Or else I'll explode into a hundred tiny pieces!"

"That's right."

"What are we supposed to do Azu-nyan?" Yui's expression had turned very worrisome at the prospect of being blown up.

"I don't know Yui," Azusa examined the field in front of her, all it looked like was a field of mud but she didn't know how many deadly explosives lurked within it. They could be all around them, a single step in the wrong direction and it was the end for them.

"We should just go back Azu-nyan, I wanted to get the bus but I didn't want to have to go over mines, I think this was a really bad idea," Yui said tugging at her.

"Yeah we need to go back somehow," Azusa agreed "If we try to trace our footsteps back the way we came then maybe we can make it out of this."

Azusa turned round and examined the path behind them, their footprints weren't clear but if she looked closely she could just about see where they'd stepped.

"Is there a way?" Yui asked.

"I think so," Azusa said nervously "stay right behind me Yui and don't move anywhere but where I step."

"Okay," Yui agreed.

Azusa started tentatively moving forward; careful not to tread anywhere she had not before. She knew that one wrong step could be the end of them.

"I guess my plan failed," Yui sighed "All I wanted to do is help everyone but instead I just made things worse."

"It could have worked Yui, it's not really your fault," Azusa comforted, she'd wanted to believe in the plan too, even though she'd known it could never work.

"I feel so useless Azu-nyan," Yui confessed miserably "I can't do anything to help anyone. All I can do is go around being stupid."

Azusa was too concentrated on avoiding landmines to respond.

"This was going to be my chance to prove to everyone I'm not worthless but I messed this up as well. I'm just pathetic Azu-nyan, I can't do anything right."

"None of us can really do anything in a situation like this Yui, we're all powerless," Azusa said "Surviving is the only thing we should be concerned about right now."

"I guess I've been doing that okay so far," Yui smiled.

"Exactly you're not bad at everything," Azusa agreed "sometimes surviving is all you can do. When we were apart all I could focus on was finding all of you. Some how I thought that all my pain would go if I was with you. It hasn't though; it still hurts just as bad as before.

"I really hate this war," Yui mumbled "loads of people are dying but I can't do anything about it. It's all for nothing Azusa, this war isn't going to make anyone happier it just makes people angry and sad."

"It could always be worse," Azusa said "At least we're together."

"Yeah we've still got that."

"Hey Yui," Azusa started "Can I show you something?"

"Huh what?"

Azusa rummaged in her pocket and brought out a brown envelope "This, I got given it in the shelter" Azusa gently pried opened it to show Yui. Inside was a single black oval pill.

"What is that? It looks like candy," Yui said, staring at it intently.

"It's a cyanide pill Yui, you really don't want to eat this," Azusa explained "it will kill you almost instantly

"You're not going to use it are you?!" Yui shouted her eyes filled with panic "please don't we'll get out of this minefield."

"Don't worry I'm not going to," Azusa quickly reassured her "At least not now."

"Wow that's a relief," Yui smiled "I don't think I could cope if you died."

"I might still have to use it Yui, I didn't think I'd ever need it at the start, I didn't even want to keep it but after all I've been through I like having in here. It's a reminder that things could always get worse for me. I don't know, I guess it's sort of comforting that I could end my life when ever I want.""

They had both stopped walking now even though they were only half way to safety.

"Azu-nyan," Yui said nervously "You shouldn't have that thing, it's really bad. You might get really upset and use it and I- I really don't want you to die."

"Yui I'm only going to use it if I really have to," Azusa said "I know it's not something to be taken lightly."

"But Azusa life is always worth living!" Yui insisted "even if things seem really bad they can always get better right? Things will get better."

"We'll see," Azusa said, wishing she could share Yui's optimism "come on let's focus on getting to safety."

* * *

"Yui, Azusa where are you?" Ritsu called, she and Mio were pushing through the undergrowth in search of their lost friends, so far there had been no signs of them.

"Come back," Mio shouted "it's dangerous!"

"Maybe we should split up?" Mugi suggested "we might be able to find them faster."

"But that will just mean we have to find each other as well," Ritsu replied.

"She makes sense Ritsu we don't even know if they went this way," Mio countered

"Alright fine if you want to split up we'll split up, me and you will keep going in this direction and Mugi can search over there!" Ritsu ordered "we'll meet back at the camp as soon as one of us has found them okay?"

"Okay," Mugi nodded as ran off "Yui? Azusa!?"

"Where could they be?" Ritsu said "And why did I ever let them goof off on their own?"

"They said they were going to get firewood but it doesn't take this long," Mio agreed "maybe they got distracted by something."

"That's a possibility," Ritsu said as she tore through the bush "We just have to keep looking."

They could still hear the sound of gunfire and explosions from the road and it appeared to be getting closer. It served as a constant uncomfortable reminder of the danger they were in.

"What's going on over there?" Mio asked, her body was shaking with fear.

"Fighting, Mio, what do you think? And we need to get away from it before..."

GRRRRRRRRRRR!

As she said that there was a tremendous snapping noise from their right as a tank forced its way through the nearby bush. Mio narrowly dived out of the way to avoid it as the tank crashed to the ground. Ritsu grabbed her and pulled her to the ground as the tank trundled past them. It was heading for a muddy field with two distant figures in it.

"What's that doing here? Mio screamed

"I don't know but I guess the plan to get out before this turns into a war-zone has failed!" Ritsu shouted, she couldn't see any other military presence but it couldn't be far off. Ritsu scampered to her feet and dragged Mio by the hand "Come on; let's find them before they do."

* * *

Azusa and Yui could see gunfire erupting from the road; it was awfully close to them. The large force of tanks were destroying the ambushers, now that the element of surprise had gone they were on their own against a much larger force. It didn't look to good for them.

"Whoa what's going on over there?"

"Something we need to get away from."

"Retreat!" They heard somebody shout, the ambushing forces started running away, towards them and the minefield. They obviously didn't know the dangers that lurked ahead.

"They're coming towards us!" Azusa shouted.

"No don't go this way!" Yui panicked "You can't."

They didn't hear her; the soldiers kept fleeing towards them in fear of the tanks. It only took a few seconds before it happened. A young private had the misfortune to tread in the wrong place, sending him flying up into the air. From where they were standing Yui could see the surprise and fear on his face during his last moments.

"No," Yui shouted desperately "Get out of here!"

It was no use, there were soon more casualties happening all around them as the whole platoon was wiped out before they realized what was happening. The few survivors were either immobile or too shell shocked to move.

The tanks began to move in on their position, intent on finishing them off.

Yui stood gazing at the carnage, "There's so much killing," she whimpered "Why can't they all stop it?"

"Yui we don't have time for this, let's get out of here!" Azusa desperately tugged at her.

"Yui Azusa over here!" Ritsu bellowed from the treeline "Get out of there!"

"Ritsu!" Azusa shouted.

A tank shell exploded close by leaving a deafening ringing in Azusa's ears. The tanks didn't care that they were civilians only that they were in the way of the fighting.

"Hey!" Yui shouted at them "Stop it, stop all this fighting!"

Her shouting caught the nearest tank's attention causing it to rotate its barrel towards them.

"Yui what are you doing? We have to get out of here!" Azusa shouted once more, Yui wasn't moving.

"I'm trying to make a difference," Yui shouted as she took a step in front of the tank.

"Yui you can't."

"You don't have to keep fighting," she shouted at the tank "Just get out and make peace!"

The tank paused for a second as she stepped in front of it and for a moment Yui thought that it might actually listen but before she could say another word it began to head straight for her once more.

"Please?" She whimpered.

"She's going to get herself killed!" Ritsu exclaimed, thinking quickly she raised Gun-kun and aimed it at the tank.

Bang! Bang!

The shots ricocheted off the chassis.

"Don't you dare hurt my friend!" Ritsu shouted.

Slowly the tank aimed its turret away from Yui towards 90 degrees towards Mio and Ritsu.

"Uh Ritsu I'm not sure that was such a good idea!" Mio shouted.

"No I don't think so, Run!"

Mio and Ritsu dived for cover as a shell was launched at them. It struck the ground they had been on seconds before sending a cloud of dust into the air.

"Yui, this is our chance, we can run!" Azusa shouted.

Yui nodded as she snapped back to reality "Alright this way Azusa," she said, grabbing her hand and running across the field.

"Wait Yui!" Azusa shouted. Over the noise of the explosions Yui couldn't hear what she was shouting. The only thing she wanted to do was bring Azusa to safety, but it was the wrong way. In all the confusion they'd lost the safe path back. They were heading straight into the minefield.

"We're going to get out of this together," Yui promised "I'll make sure of it."

Azusa heard a slight clicking noise under her feet as a looming sense of dread came over her.

"No Yui we won't."

BANG!

The ground exploded from underneath them.

* * *

**A/N: Firstly I am very sorry about how long this one took, I guarantee it will not be this long again. It's also not even good quality so sorry about that as well. For the last few chapters I am going to put a lot of effort into making sure they are good so please keep reading. Anyway I'm back and will be updating more quickly now. Although what I said before about it being once every three days may be a bit of an exaggeration.  
**

**Review replies**

**Yo: Ritsu does get a hard time in this, actually they all do really. Yui probably had it easiest until this chapter. ^^ I think most emoticons are fine but ones with weird symbols can screw it up. This chapter isn't really that long but the net few ones are really long so it might ages to read them. I think the last one is about 10,000 words long and I haven't even finished it yet! Anyway I'm glad you're still enjoying the story and I won't take ages anymore :)**

**Sam: Actually I think I might need a little more practice before I get to that level. I'm don't think I'm that good yet but over this summer I'm going to try and focus on my writing a lot because I have loads of free time before I go to university. Making an account seems like a good idea, you could try to write stories yourself! It's not really that hard and I'm sure you have some good ideas for stuff. It's also good to have a creative outlet and I could help you get started. That's just a suggestion anyway. Thank you for your support :3 **

**Guest1: Yeah, I may have mentioned before that I can't write Yui well. At least in this setting anyway, if I were to write a fic set in a normal K-on environment then I could probably get her more in character. I haven't heard of either of those things though, this was more inspired by Grave of the fireflies (hence the title.) So I thought I'd go for a more realistic tone, well with a few exceptions. Anyway Thanks for reviewing.**

**Guest2: Um...**

**NodokaManabeFan: Sorry but it's not really possible to add Nodoka in at this stage. I mean she's locked away in the shelter! I'll give her a part in the epilogue though just for you! Also sorry that my spelling and grammar are atrocious. Thank you for your comments and I'm glad someone likes the Yui OOC. Keep reading! **


	15. Tenshi no shi

**Chapter 15 Tenshi no shi **

"Hey guys are you all ready to practice today!" Yui said bouncing into the club-room.

Ritsu yawned "Practicing is really tiring, I think we should skip it today."

"Ritsu!" Mio scolded "you need to stop being so lazy."

"Well at least I don't hide in the corner every time some one mentions barnacles," she teased.

"Hey that was only because you said you were going to put one on my head!" Mio retorted.

"I have some lovely cakes today," Mugi said with a serene smile, breaking up Mio and Ritsu's argument.

"Ooh which ones?" Yui said with unrivalled interest.

"Battenberg and banana cupcakes."

"Wow those do sound lovely!" Yui said enthusiastically.

"Wait," Azusa protested "We can't just waste our time eating cakes again."

"But Azu-nyan these are really nice cakes."

Azusa shook her head "No cake is more important that band practise."

As she said that Yui shoved a cupcake into her mouth and her eyes glazed over with happiness "well okay maybe we can have a couple of cakes," she admitted.

Yui smiled widely as they resigned themselves to another peaceful happy day of youth. Everything was the way it was supposed to be.

* * *

"Yui, wake up."

She could hear the desperation in Ritsu's voice as she felt her hand shaking her.

"Come on, Yui you've got to get up."

Yui could feel pain all over her body, a stream of fresh blood trickling down her legs. Slowly she opened her eyes to see Ritsu crouched next to her. She was crying.

"She's alive!" Mio exclaimed as her eyes opened "Thank goodness Yui we thought you were gone."

Mio hugged Yui and wept into her shoulder "Please don't scare us like that again Yui."

"I can't feel my legs," Yui moaned.

"What?"

Ritsu glanced down at them, it was not a pleasant sight, a little bit of bone was visible through all the red mess. "Yui can you walk?"

Yui didn't answer, instead she attempted to raise her head and look around only to fail out of fatigue "Where's Azu-nyan?" she croaked.

Ritsu went still; she couldn't bring her self to say it "Yui, she's... she ..."

"She's over there Yui," Mio said grimly.

Yui slowly raised her head to see Azusa's small frail body lying several meters away. She wasn't moving.

"Azu-nyan!" Yui shouted, scrambling through the dirt to get to her. Azusa was laying face down in the field, completely still.

Yui shook her "Azu-nyan get up it's me."

There was no response.

"Come on Azusa please get up, please."

Ritsu appeared behind her "I'm sorry Yui Azusa..."

"No she can't!" Yui shouted shaking her more violently "Wake up Azu-nyan! You've got to"

Tears began to fall from Yui's face as she realized the situation. Slowly she rolled Azusa onto her back. A large bit of shrapnel had become embedded in her chest leaking blood every where. There was no chance of recovering from a wound like that. Her vital organs were far too damaged. Slowly Yui felt all energy leave her body as she took it in. "Come on Azu-nyan you've got to wake," she whimpered.

Ritsu put a hand on her shoulder "Yui she's gone."

"NO!" Yui shouted, violently throwing Ritsu off and grabbing her body with both hands "she can't be, she can't be dead, she's my friend!"

"There's nothing we can do about it Yui," Mio said softly, failing to hold back tears "we can't bring her back."

Slowly Yui reached into Azusa's pocket and pulled out a small brown envelope. "This is all my fault, I killed her."

Yui poured the black capsule into her hand and brought it to her mouth. All too slowly Ritsu realized what she was doing.

"NO YUI!" Ritsu dived at her, sending the pill flying. The already injured Yui crumbled under the impact.

"Ow" Yui said weakly.

"I'm sorry Yui; we can't lose you as well."

Ritsu sagged onto the ground in defeat, Azusa was dead and Mugi was gone. They hadn't been able to find her earlier and after seeing Azusa she was almost too scared to search lest she find another of her friends dead. She'd been so scared that Yui had died as well; it had taken fifteen minutes of shaking before she'd woken. She'd thought they were both dead at first, after seeing Azusa she'd almost given up hope, but Yui had live. That was something though Ritsu knew this would be a lot harder for her than the rest of them. Yui had loved Azusa in a way, they all had, but Yui had always been especially affectionate for her. She wouldn't be able to get over this quickly. Ritsu looked over at her, crumpled and defeated still lying by her dead Kohai's body. There was nothing she could say to make it better, they couldn't recover from this, she couldn't pretend everything was alright any longer. Tears resurfaced in her eyes as she thought about how she'd never see Azusa's small figure again. She wiped them with her sleeves "I've got to be strong," she told herself "I've got to be a leader."

Mio was in no better shape, she was shaking in fear hugging her knees tightly and rocking back and forwards. She looked like she'd seen the worst thing imaginable. The explosions brought back horrible memories for her as they created a new one. The tanks had long since gone but they'd left the corpses in their wake rotting in the sun. They'd had to abandon Yui and Azusa momentarily to flee from the tank. When they finally managed to get away they'd returned to see the tanks gone and their two friend's bodies thrown to the floor. Mio had broken down immediately whereas Ritsu had rushed towards them to check their pulses after Yui's came out positive she'd gotten hope that everything would be okay then it was mercilessly destroyed.

It was after a seemingly endless silence Ritsu spoke "We should bury her."

Mio nodded in agreement, none of them wanted to leave her but they had no choice. There was no point dragging a corpse around with them.

* * *

It was difficult digging with their bare hands but the earth was soft from recent rain so it moved quickly. It took a while to dig it but they were too concerned about their friend to worry about the time. Luckily the grave didn't have to be too big to fit her, another advantage of Azusa's small size. When it was ready Ritsu approached her corpses tiredly, Yui was still holding on to it.

"Yui," she said gently "You have to let her go."

When Yui didn't Ritsu grabbed Azusa and pulled her from Yui's arms. She looked distraught as she reached out her arms for her.

"It's for the best," Ritsu clutched her dead friend and carried her over to the hole they'd dug. It was nothing like a living body, still and cold and bloody. Ritsu hated having it near her. Mio was standing by the hole. Gently Ritsu lowered her in and shut her eyes.

The three of them stared mournfully into the grave, unsure of what to do.

"Anyone want to say something before we bury her?" Ritsu asked. Since Mio didn't say anything and Yui was still crying Ritsu took it upon her self.

"Azusa Nakano was a great friend to all of us," Ritsu began "She was kind, smart and friendly and what's more she was always there for us. I think it say a lot that she would escape the shelter and walk for days just to be with us. She..."

Ritsu choked up, finding in hard to talk without crying "she was the best friend any of us could ever hope for and... and we'll miss you Azusa."

She wiped her eye and looked around to see her friends in tears as well "start burying her."

Yui crawled over to the grave and had one final look in at Azusa's corpse "I'll miss you Azu-nyan."

She watched helplessly as Azusa was slowly covered in dirt then gone for ever. As it happened Yui began to hum, it took Ritsu a while to figure out what it was but soon she caught on. It was Tenshi no Furetayo. Ritsu broke down in tears again.

* * *

None of them wanted to leave but night was coming fast and the area was still dangerous. They soon found a suitable campsite at the edge of a river. A little in the distance Ritsu could see the light of an urban area, she didn't know which city it was, she didn't even know where they were anymore.

She halfheartedly prepared a fire while her friends stared at the ground in misery. There would be a lot more room under the blanket now that their group was down to three and there would be more food. Ritsu hated thinking about the advantages of Azusa's death, it had been horrible. She kept thinking over in her mine the things she could have done to prevent it. Not getting lost. Not arguing with Yui. Keeping a closer eye on them. There were a hundred things she could have done differently but she hadn't. Ritsu had failed as a leader. She didn't even know where Mugi was either. She looked at her friends, Mio was still shaking and Yui was staring into the fire silently. Even if she'd failed Ritsu felt the need to say something, anything she could to ease their pain.

"Look," she started "we've been dealt a cruel blow today and I don't think any of us were prepared for it. It's tough to lose a friend, really tough."

"I can't handle it Ritsu," Mio stuttered "what if it happens to more of us?"

"We can overcome this Mio; things will still get better I promise," Ritsu pleaded "after the war's over and we're back home we can just look back at this as an unhappy memory. Until then well I'll... I'll try my best to protect you, no I will protect yo. I'll make sure no one else get's hurt. We're still a team right?"

Ritsu looked desperately at her friends for confirmation; to some how believe her empty promises. No one said anything.

"Yui? We're a team right?"

"I wish it had been me Ritsu."

"Yui it wasn't your fault."

"It was, I wish I had been the one who died, I led her into the minefield," Yui whimpered, breaking into tears once more "but I survived and she died. How is this fair Ritsu!? She was so nice and lovely; I should have been the one!"

"Listen Yui this is not your fault," Ritsu said "I was the one how let you two go off like that, If anything I'm the one to blame."

The tears kept falling as Yui completely broke down in misery; her face was contorted in grief.

Ritsu put an arm round her and brought her close to her.

"Don't worry Yui, we'll be okay, everything is going to be alright."

Azusa was dead, Mugi was missing, Mio was looked terrified, Yui was irreparably broken and Ritsu felt just as scared as the rest of them. Things were never going to be alright again.

Ritsu doubted that things could ever be right again.

* * *

**A/N: So um I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) This was going to happen a few chapters earlier but I delayed it. Still it can only get better from here right? Next chapter they are going to bring Azusa back to life then stop the war by being bad ass I promise. Sorry that this chapter is short, I thought it was quite well contained so it didn't to make longer. Still I did add that dream bit at the start to make it a little longer.**

**Review replies **

**Yo: It's not the climax just yet! There's three more chapters after this one. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the next one but after that there is sort of a climax with a fast paced action bit then an extended finale bit. It is nearing the end now though. It keeps getting darker as well as their situation gets more and more hopeless. It makes me bit sad actually. Part of the reason I did the dream in this chapter was because I just wanted to write them being happy again. Oh well the ending of this is sort of happy in a way. Anyway sorry for this chapter and thank you for reading!**

**Sam: Thank you for saying that. My confidence in my writing ability fluctuates massively so I appreciate it ^^ It can be hard to make time for it when school is on. I've finished now so I don't ever have to worry about it again. I do have university though, if I manage to get in that is. You don't have to write but I can help you if you want to :) Keep reading please!  
**

**MiraJane S and Erza S: Thank you for following and raising my review count by about ten. Are you two people? **

**Guest: Hi! **

**Next time on Grave of the turtles: Yui uses the magic of friendship to bring Azusa back to life only to die again when the bear from chapter 3 turns up and eats them.  
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